Divina Comedia
by Chayner
Summary: Some say that God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. But what if he is just doing it for his own amusement? Wouldn't that make creation itself the ultimate joke? With sentient life being the unwitting puppets dancing to the creator's whimsical tune? 「Discontinued.」
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** **I own nothing besides the original concepts and narratives that I have introduced in this story** **.**

 **This story is a sequel to Enlightened Apotheosis. You might want to read that one first, if you haven't done already, before scrolling down.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Jubilation**

Pale eyes gazed in contemplation at the kneeling forms of three young men while their owner seemed to be momentarily lost in thought as he stood in the middle of an austere room, accompanied by a beautiful young woman dressed in a white hime-kimono holding affectionately to his right arm.

Twenty years had passed for him and his wife since their departure to their honeymoon in one of his personal dimensions, yet, for those remaining in this world, only two years had gone by since.

Not that long of a waiting period for his three most loyal followers courtesy of their gifted immortality, but still long enough for them to be able to complete the task he had entrusted them with.

He had to admit, the results of their diligent work were quite impressive thus far. His religion had flourished brilliantly under their careful supervision, and the entire world was now tailored after his whimsical vision. A peaceful place of worship that could become the most fanatical and zealous domain at the drop of a hat.

A thin smile twitched on his lips.

His idea truly held great potential for amusement. And now that he saw on his personal testing grounds how outstanding of a success his little experiment was, he could actually proceed to the next phase of his plan and implement his religion project in one of the worlds that had caught his eyes a while ago.

His current information on that world might have been only the bare minimum due to its major lack of interesting developments for him to observe, however, even with what he knew so far, it was clear to him that the prospect for entertainment it held was quite immense.

Given its particular circumstances, that world would be the perfect place for him to inaugurate his religion project. After all, what better place to raise a religion could there be other than in a world which essentially possessed a godly affinity for such a thing.

Putting an end to his musings for the time being, Hagoromo lowered his head to glance at the still kneeling young men, causing his long, snowy tresses to gently brush against the white fabric of his priestly garment at the movement.

"You may raise your heads," the silver haired deity spoke pleasantly as he observed with an appreciative smile how they did as told, before they gazed at him in veneration. "You three have done a splendid work in my absence. Everything had been shaped according to my vision."

"I humbly accept your words of praise, Lord Hagoromo," the first one to reply was the young man with short, white hair and six black magatama tattooed around his neck. "I am most glad to see you and Lady Yuno again."

"Thank you, my Lord," the next one to speak was the man with short, grey hair and wine colored eyes as he held his silvery pendant close to his heart.

"This humble follower is overjoyed to be the recipient of your praise, Lord Sovereign," the last one to respond was the most youthful looking of the three, a boy with short, grey hair and pink pupil-less eyes, as well as a stitch-like scar running from his left eye down his cheek.

Hagoromo gazed for a bit longer at his three kneeling followers, before glancing at his beloved wife as he recalled a particular discussion they had a while ago.

A second later, a stone tablet materialized in his left hand, which he promptly handed to her.

The rose haired goddess looked at the piece of stone in bemusement for a few moments, before her eyes suddenly began to glitter like the stars themselves when she remembered the short conversation she had had with her husband at the beginning of their honeymoon.

Immediately glancing at her beloved, she gave him a delighted smile as they shared a brief, meaningful gaze.

A dim light flowed across the surface of the tablet, leaving words inscribed in its wake as the young woman did exactly what she knew her husband expected of her to do.

After the last of the words were etched into the stone, Yuno glanced at the grey haired youth with a scar on his face and handed him the tablet with a smile so sweet that it was slightly unnerving.

"This is my Fidelis Code, Yagura. It builds upon and legitimizes the mortal laws, effectively covering any mortal concern there may be," the boy felt a cold chill run across his back as he listened to the cheerful tone of his Lady. "So make sure that it will be upheld to the last letter, okay~?"

Once she was finished speaking, Yuno shifted her attention back on her beloved, her cerise eyes gaining a dreamy look as she simply admired his standing frame.

Yagura briefly glanced at the piece of stone in his hands, his eyes widening as he read its content, before his gaze quickly returned back on the smiling goddess standing in front of him, who no longer seemed to be paying attention to anything else besides the deity next to her. "Of course, my Lady," the youth replied with a reverent bowing of his head, having yet to fully regather his composure.

The three kneeling apostles immediately focused back on their Lord upon hearing him address them once more.

"Yagura," Hagoromo began, his eyes lingering on the youngest looking of them. "Your duty as the Overseer of this world begins henceforth."

"At once, Lord Sovereign!" the boy uttered with a deep bow.

Hagoromo's gaze shifted to his nephew, and his most zealous of followers. "Toneri and Hidan. The two of you shall accompany me and my wife to the next world I have chosen to be graced by the truth of the Esoteric Faith."

Their eyes widened in surprise at these words, however, they also bowed their heads in deference, before giving their reverent replies.

"Of course, Lord Hagoromo."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Hagoromo offered them a pleasant smile. "Make sure to prepare whatever you might deem of use for this task. I shall be summoning you shortly once I am done with my initial assessment of the world," he informed.

The two apostles once more bowed their heads in reverence to their Lord, before watching as the fabric of space-time parted itself before their kneeling forms.

The silver haired deity and his wife stepped inside the opened rift a moment later, leaving the three kneeling young men as the sole occupants of the room.

"So, Yagura..." Hidan was the first one to break the silence that settled after the departure of Hagoromo and Yuno as he stood up from his kneeling position. "What's written on that holy stone tablet?"

Hearing the grey haired man's request, Yagura presented the stone tablet he held in his hands to his two companions as they all rose back to their feet.

Hidan and Toneri looked with great interest at the carvings in the piece of stone, their eyes growing wide as they read and memorized each and every word engraved on it.

 _Fidelity begins with the family. Loyalty to thy enduring mother, reverence towards thy shielding father. Kinship of blood with those whom share the womb._

 _Fidelity within relationships. Devotion towards thine's blessed spouse, of whom under the wholesome stars didst thou promise eternal love. Of the son, and daughter, created from love, abstain hatred, yet gift all else._

 _Fidelity of stately patriotism. Fealty you have sworn, in heart, and blood. There is no allegiance—till death, for even in death, in dedicated allegiance, there is Just rewards—other than the land of the blessed nurturer._

 _Fidelity of civil conduct. Obedience incited, law and order blessed thereof._

 _Veneration towards God and all aspects thereof. Piety towards the Holy One, forthwith the Holy Maiden, are expressed dutifully and respectfully by faithfully acknowledging the servants of God, as true conductors of his Supreme Will._

"Wow... that's some pretty neat stuff..." Hidan commented in awe once he was finished reading, earning a nod from his stoic looking comrade. "Thanks to Lady Yuno, now it will be even harder for any heretics to escape their punishments."

"I must concur with you on this one, Hidan," Toneri voiced in his usually calm tone. "This is a masterful set of rules."

The next moments passed in silence as the three occupants of the room fell into a thoughtful silence, before Hidan once more broke the tranquil atmosphere.

"Maaan, just thinking about all of the amazing sacrifices that I'll soon be able to do is getting me so excited!" the grey haired man spoke boisterously, a wide grin plastered on his face, before glancing at his partner. "What about you, Toneri? Aren't you happy now that you have even more gospel to spread around?"

The young Ōtsutsuki merely shook his head in something akin to exasperation at Hidan's words, though if one were to closely look at his delicate features, they could notice the faint smile tugging at his lips.

"Hidan, we are wasting time," Toneri replied curtly as he sent his grinning partner a flat look. "Have you not heard what Lord Hagoromo had told us? We are to be summoned at a moment's notice. We have to make haste and prepare whatever we might need for the journey. We can talk after that."

"Aye," Hidan gave his response almost instantly, his face as eager as that of a child when presented with a new toy. "But we are going to have a nice talk over a drink like the best buddies we are, okaaay?"

Toneri could only sigh as he once more shook his head at the childish man's one-track mind. "Fine..." he turned around and walked toward the door, briefly stopping to glance over his shoulder as he was about to exit the room. "Now stop standing idle, and hurry up," he added in a sharper tone upon noticing the ear splitting grin that had formed on his partner's face.

"Sure, best buddy!" the grey haired man replied cheerfully, his smile not wavering in the slightest as he walked after his partner, though not before he took a moment to glance at the youthful looking individual standing next to him. "Hey, Yagura, you're coming to have a drink with us too, right?" he spoke, giving the boy a friendly nudge.

"Yes, Hidan," Yagura replied in a collected, almost monotonous voice, before following his two comrades.

"Sweet!" Hidan exclaimed while exiting the room, his loud voice echoing throughout the main corridor of the temple, and more than likely disturbing some people from their peaceful activities.

* * *

 **With Hagoromo & Yuno...**

"This place is so pretty!" Yuno voiced in wonderment as she glanced around at the mixture of iridescent colors that made up her surroundings.

That remark earned her a chuckle from the silver haired deity hovering next to her as he also seemed to be inspecting the place they had just arrived to, albeit with more of a critical glint in his eyes.

"And quite dangerous," Hagoromo added in amusement as he continued to study the peculiar world. "Though not for us."

His words were quickly met with a giggle from the young goddess as she kept looking at him with a cute smile.

"But jesting aside, this place seems rather... hostile," Hagoromo revealed as he shifted his attention back on his lovely wife. "So much that any entity below a certain threshold of power would be unable to exist in here."

"Oh... but what exactly is this place?" Yuno asked in curiosity. "Because I'm pretty sure that it's not our final destination in this universe."

At this, Hagoromo adopted a thoughtful expression. "Well, technically, we are not in that world yet," he explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "This place seems to be a void world that exists between our destination universe and a few other dimensions."

"I see..." the rose hair goddess muttered as she carefully took in each word of her husband's explanation. "Then this is why we ended here in the first place after opening a portal with such vague coordinates, right?"

"That's right, my dear," Hagoromo replied with a proud smile, which got his wife to beam with joy at the praise, before resting her head on his right shoulder.

The better part of the next minute passed in silence for the couple as they continued to glance at the never ending expanse of colors surrounding them, until Yuno suddenly voiced her thoughts on a question that had just sprung inside her mind.

"By the way, darling, why are we still here?" she asked in a manner that Hagoromo could only describe as being endearingly cute.

"Because I'm a little curious about the two residents of this place," Hagoromo replied, his eyes never leaving the beautiful face of his wife. "It should be interesting to meet, and perhaps even have a discussion with them."

"Oh... you mean that big red dragon over there?" Yuno spoke a moment later as she pointed to their left.

A chuckle escaped Hagoromo's lips as he languidly followed her pointing finger with his gaze. "Indeed," he remarked once his gaze settled on the massive form of a dragon covered in lustrous red scales. "That's one of them."

The creature was flying through the multicolored void, seemingly heading toward their location.

Yuno giggled in response, continuing to watch how the approaching dragon got closer and closer, before it finally reached their position after a few moments or so.

Abruptly stopping from its flight, the creature used its two large sets of wings to hover in front of the two deities, slightly lowering its horned snout to take a better glance at them.

" **You were staring at me..."** the massive dragon boomed in an echoing voice as it kept its golden eyes fixated on the two figures hovering in front of it. **"I don't like being stared at."**

Its attempt at intimidation, however, seemed to have no effect on the couple as the snow haired deity simply gazed unperturbed at the somewhat amusing display, while the rose haired goddess next to him had yet to even raise her head from its comfortable position on his right shoulder.

"Eeeeh... a dragon with an attitude to match?" Hagoromo mused out loud, an amused smirk playing on his lips as he looked at his wife. "I must have really hit the jackpot on this one," he added smoothly, earning himself a giggle from his wife.

" **Are you making fun of me, human?"** the dragon asked in a low tone, its golden eyes narrowing dangerously. **"A tiny ant dares make fun of the Great Red, the True Dragon God?!"**

"That is quite the huge ego you have there, mister dragon. You could try going for some humility every now and then for a change," Hagoromo pointed out casually, his mouth widening into a frivolous grin. "And perhaps also work a bit on your sense of humor. It's kind of lacking right now."

" **You insolent whelp!"** the towering creature snarled menacingly, exposing some of the numerous, sharp fangs from within its maw. **"Apologise now and I might consider not turning you into a pile of smoldering ashes!"**

Hearing that, a sickeningly sweet giggle escaped Yuno's mouth as she slowly raised her head from her husband's shoulder and glared at the impudent dragon with dulled eyes.

Though before she could have done anything to the creature that had so audaciously insulted her beloved, she was stopped by the hand that gently grasped her own as a calming presence flooded her entire being.

The girl's tensed frame quickly relaxed, and she turned her head to glance at her beloved with drooping eyes, giving him a smile that made it clear to him that she no longer cared about anything else.

Once he was done calming his wife through their bond, Hagoromo shifted his attention back on the massive dragon hovering in front of him, the same unchanging, frivolous smile plastered on his face as he noted the further increased ire of the beast.

"You know, becoming incensed so quickly is not helping you much in the social department, either. I think you should solve those anger issues of yours, before attempting to have a friendly chat with someone," Hagoromo said, waggling a finger condescendingly. "You are clearly not leaving any good impressions here."

The gigantic dragon let out a threatening roar in response, creating a powerful gust of wind that did nothing but whip harmlessly at the clothes of the two deities, who were unfazed by the creature's meagre attempt at intimidation.

"Now that was just rude of you," Hagoromo admonished lightly, his carefree grin still in place as he looked the scaled beast in its eyes. "Do you really have no manners, mister rainbow dragon god?"

The steam trickling out of its snarling maw as it reared its head back and opened its jaws wide was the only warning on the irate dragon's part, before it suddenly released a huge stream of fire that changed the entire color of the surroundings to orange in a matter of seconds.

Hagoromo's expression didn't change as he calmly watched the approaching blaze get nearer and nearer, and simply raised his left hand to meet the raging inferno that threatened to scorch him and his wife.

The ocean of flames was frozen in an instant, the heat unable to even reach the two of them before being extinguished in the most unusual of manners that seemed to defy even the laws of nature.

In the blink of an eye, a huge mass of crystalline ice had bloomed around the divine couple akin to a spiralling flower with the two of them at its center, though it wilted just as fast when Hagoromo snapped his fingers.

"Wow, darling, that was so pretty!" Yuno cheered from next to her beloved as she watched how the sea of frozen flames shattered into innumerable motes of glittering ice. "You are so cool!"

Hagoromo simply patted his wife's head affectionately in response, earning himself a delighted expression from her as she seemed to melt at his touch.

" **This is interesting..."** Great Red commented in mild curiosity as he observed the power of that white haired human in action. **"You are stronger than I thought. You actually survived an attack that had easily vaporised any of the other weaklings who have challenged me so far."**

The crystalline haze was falling around the duo as if they were inside an iridescent snow globe, creating a strange atmosphere in contrast with the rest of the multicolored void.

"Oh? That was an attack earlier? I thought you were finally taking my advice and warming up a little to us," Hagoromo spoke wryly, his eyes narrowing as his smirking face gained an ominous edge. "My apologies then, mister dragon, but don't be surprised if we also happen to give you the cold shoulder starting from now on, okay?"

Yuno couldn't help the giggles that escaped her mouth at the puns made by her husband, and she had to bury her face in the fabric of his robe in an attempt to stifle her growing mirth.

Hagoromo merely continued to look at the overgrown lizard, his whimsical smile back in place as he waited for the increasingly irate dragon's reaction.

" **Are you mocking me...?"** Great Red spoke almost disbelievingly, his anger only growing the more he looked at that insufferable smile present on that human's face. **"You, a mere mortal, dare mock me, the Apocalypse Dragon? The Dragon of Dragons?!"** he snarled furiously, slowly spreading his two sets of huge, scaled wings in a threatening display.

Hagoromo simply tilted his head a little to the side, completely unfazed at the creature's outburst. "Yup!" He nonchalantly replied a moment later, his mouth widening into his trademark frivolous grin as he raised a finger in emphasis. "Unless you meant it rhetorically, in which case—"

He didn't get to finish though, as the infuriated dragon released a deafening roar, interrupting him mid sentence as powerful gusts of wind generated by the sound whipped at his hair and clothes.

"Come on, now you are just being outright mean!" Hagoromo chided playfully, curious to see how much more it would take for the dragon to finally snap. "That's not very nice, you know?"

This appeared to be the last straw for Great Red as his anger quickly boiled over, causing the enraged dragon to coil his massive tail and lash out at the impudent humans who were openly mocking him.

Hagoromo watched how scaled appendage headed towards his position like a gigantic whip, his relentlessly cheerful demeanor gone in the blink of an eye when he realized that Yuno was going to be the one struck first.

His hand suddenly blurred forward, effortlessly stopping the incoming blow before it could have made contact with its target as the silver haired deity didn't even budge an inch from his spot, despite the powerful shockwave that was created upon the impact.

Hagoromo's visage was a stern mask of eeriness as he fixated the towering creature with a narrow eyed, piercing gaze. "Bad move, little dragon. Bad move..." he said in a low voice, his alabaster fingers promptly clamping down on the surprised beast's appendage with enough force to dent its scales. "Trying to hurt my wife is something that I don't take too kindly."

Great Red instinctively tried to pull back its tail, though no matter how much he seemed to try, he couldn't free his scaled appendage from the hand gripping onto it like a powerful vice.

" **Hmph!"** the gigantic dragon huffed, though despite his smoldering anger, he seemed oddly pleased with the current turn of events. **"I'll admit that you are very strong for a mortal. But don't get too cocky after that much,"** his sharp, ivory fangs were slowly bared in an insanely satisfied grin. **"It's been a long time since I've last let loose in a fight. So don't disappoint me, human! I want to enjoy destroying you at full power!"**

Rearing back one of its front paws, Great Red prepared to lash out with an even more powerful attack, his intent on pulverizing the human keeping his tail in an unyielding hold.

"For some reason, you seem to think that I'm a human," Hagoromo remarked while calmly watching the gigantic appendage descend upon him, his sinister expression gaining an even more malicious edge. "How about we thoroughly shatter that delusion of yours, eh?"

Mere inches from making contact with the young couple, the muscular paw abruptly stopped as if the beast itself had willingly decided to cease the attack at the last moment possible.

Hagoromo's eyes were glowing with an eldritch power as he looked at the surprised creature.

" **Huh? What is this–?"** Great Red voiced in confusion, trying to make sense of what was happening, though unable to voice more than a few words, before getting interrupted by the voice that rang out from below him.

" _ **Kneel."**_

It was all that Hagoromo said, his tone strikingly different from anything that he had spoken so far, as it held an authority that simply commanded utter obedience.

A single word that carried within a power so overwhelming that it brought the hulking beast down from its flight, forcing it to plummet through the iridescent void.

" **What the–?!"** was the sole thing that Great Red managed to say as it suddenly found itself falling through the dimensional gap.

The dragon kept dropping through the never-ending abyss, until it eventually crashed into one of the huge masses of stone that floated throughout the multicolored world.

Completely stunned by the unfolding event, Great Red simply kept lying in the large crater that was formed upon his impact.

"Are you feeling okay, mister dragon?" Hagoromo broke the silence after a few moments, his mocking smirk never leaving his face as he looked down at the dazed dragon. "You seem to be a little down."

Yuno giggled once more at her husband's play on words, taking extra pleasure in watching him put that oversized lizard back in its place.

Meanwhile, Great Red was struggling to rise from the crater, growling in frustration at its inability to do anything besides twitching its muscles. The dragon's anger spiked upon hearing that man mock him yet again, and his attempts at breaking out of whatever was controlling him became even fiercer.

Amused at the beast's futile attempts, Hagoromo began descending to the floating landmass.

" **You...!"** the scaled creature snarled furiously, finally managing to raise its head high enough to glare at the silver haired young man.

Though all that it was able to get was just a brief glimpse, because a moment later it was sent crashing face first against the ground once again, deepening the crater even more.

"Wow... it looks like you are having a really hard time dealing with gravity today," Hagoromo remarked with a grin. "But don't beat yourself too harshly over that. I'm sure that after a bit of practice you'll be able to rise up to the challenge."

" **Agh!"** Great Red sounded in pain as its snout became reacquainted with the stony floor of the island.

This time it seemed to be impossible for the powerful dragon to move any of its muscles as the force controlling him had become even stronger.

As such, Great Red could do nothing but reflect on the pair of rippled amethysts that he had managed to glimpse glowing with baffling power before being forced into submission for the second time.

* * *

Silence.

For most, it was a simple word used to define the state of complete absence of sound.

However, for the one known as Ophis, silence was something precious.

It was something that she could barely remember how it felt to experience ever since her home had been invaded by the one who had robbed her of this treasure.

It was also something that she would do everything in her power to once again achieve.

For this very reason, she had created the Khaos Brigade, an organization whose sole purpose was the removal of the loud dragon who had taken residence inside the dimensional gap and disturbed her silence.

After all, the Infinite Dragon God had no delusions that she alone could ever hope to defeat the Great Red in a battle, since that dragon was the strongest being in existence for a reason.

With a power that dwarfed even hers, the Dragon of Dragons was easily the most powerful entity in the world. There was no one who could match that creature, and even less surpass it in a straight battle.

Or, at least, that was what she had used to think until a few moments ago, when she had seen how a white haired stranger had brought the loud and annoying dragon down with a simple word.

Ophis had no idea who that entity was, however, she wasn't as ignorant as that Stupid Red and would have never made the assumptions that it had so casually made.

But that aside, it was very clear to her that both that white haired individual and the one about whom he had referred to as being his wife were not of her world.

Ophis had sensed the brief disturbance in the boundaries of the dimensional gap, and that when coupled with Great Red's outburst mere minutes later was enough to bring her to the conclusion that those two had come from a different world.

Not that the Infinite Dragon God really cared about something like that, because as long as they didn't interfere with her silence, then she would have no issues with them.

Yet, after seeing the obnoxious dragon antagonize the white haired individual, she quickly came to realize a very favorable possibility. One that only continued to become more probable to her after witnessing how that being had effortlessly subjugated Great Red as if it had been nothing more than a mere joke to him.

If things were to continue escalating the way they have been for the past few minutes, then Ophis was certain that she might end up greatly benefiting from the arrival of these two entities.

And seeing how the prideful Dragon of Apocalypse had already managed to anger the white haired one, if the way their encounter had progressed so far was of any indication, then chances were very high that she might actually get her silence in the most unexpected of manners possible.

Having Great Red removed from her home by two entities that had suddenly appeared out of the blue was something that the Infinite Dragon God would have never thought of as being a possibility toward achieving her goal.

And yet, here she was, watching how the mighty Dragon of Dragons was being forced to submit by someone who seemed to dwarf even its unmeasurable power by such a margin that it made the dragon seem like an ant in comparison.

This was something that baffled Ophis, because despite the feats she had seen the white haired being achieve with her own two eyes, she could sense absolutely nothing from neither him, nor his mate.

However, it was beyond clear to her that they could not be mere humans, because she had managed to catch a glimpse of something that she had immediately understood for what it meant.

Right before the white haired entity had brought Great Red down from its high horse, she had seen it. She had seen the divinity reflected in that young man's violet eyes, and then, after only a moment, she had also heard it in his voice.

An authority and power that only the divine could command... so much grater than anything she or Great Red could have ever hoped to achieve.

* * *

As the Dragon of Dragons was lying on the stony ground, unable to make the smallest of movements and with his head buried amidst countless shattered rocks, he could only wonder about what his golden eyes had glimpsed earlier, before he had been forced to submit for a second time.

In the eyes of the one whom he had believed to be nothing more than a slightly stronger, yet still weak human, for that brief moment when their gazes had met, Great Red had seen something that no mortal could ever possess.

Divinity.

And then...

He had felt it.

A power and authority that even a being of his might could barely grasp and comprehend. And it had been even stronger than the first time when he had experienced its effects.

So much stronger that instead of merely making him feel an incredibly strong compulsion to obey, it had actually fel t like an overwhelming power had suddenly imposed itself upon his being and had utterly dominated his own will.

That had been the moment when Great Red had realized how mistaken he had been with his assumptions about that white haired being.

However, that thought had quickly faded in the back of his mind when another revelation had struck the dragon.

That for the first time in his many millennia of existence, the Apocalypse Dragon had actually felt weak. Powerless even.

A thought that had immediately brought an immense anger to Great Red, because it had made it very clear to him how his pride as both a dragon and the strongest being in existence had almost been shattered.

He didn't know what kind of power this white haired being commanded for him to be able to humiliate him to such an extent, however, one thing was more than clear to the True Red Dragon God Emperor.

He would not give up even against such odds, and he would definitely not submit to this entity willingly, no matter what happened to him from this point onward.

Being killed would not matter to him, because when compared to losing even the last of his battered pride... death was insignificant to Great Red.

* * *

A tremendous roar suddenly echoed through the iridescent void of the dimensional gap, before a mild shockwave swept through the surroundings.

Hagoromo idly observed how the floating island began to crack under the power that was rapidly building up as the enraged Great Red was slowly rising from the shattered ground.

The fact that the beast managed to shake off his control was of little importance to him. He could easily make the creature fully submit to him if he truly wished to.

"Getting your second wind already?" Hagoromo asked airily, his infuriating grin plastered on his face. "Not bad, mister dragon. Not bad at all. It looks like you are really tough after all."

The floating island began to fall apart as the dragon flapped his massive wings challengingly.

" **Don't think that you already won this just because you managed to bring me down twice with that power of yours,"** Great Red snarled, his golden eyes fixated on the levitating form of the silver haired being. **"Now that I've seen your trick for what it is, it won't work on me the third time!"** The creature's power suddenly surged to massive proportions. **"So prepare yourself, because I am going to show you what happens when you cross a dragon, even if it is the last thing that I get to do!"**

Hagoromo looked quite entertained at the display. "That's nice. It looks like your resolve is all set, and that you are ready for an epic battle," he replied in a lighthearted tone, before his violet eyes began glowing faintly. "But that means you won't mind if I also let loose for a bit now, right? After all, it's only fair."

" **I've had enough of your inane talk!"** Great Red growled in anger, his maw opening wide to reveal all of its razor sharp fangs.

"Alright then," Hagoromo said with a nonchalant smile as white flickers sparked alive on his pale skin and robe. "But first..." His expression suddenly became menacing, eyes narrowing in malice as twisted glee tugged at his lips.

" _Let's play a game."_

The dragon didn't seem to notice the abrupt shift in the silver haired being's demeanor as he was too lost in his rage to care about anything else than beating the entity standing before him.

Red energy rapidly coalesced in Great Red's widened maw as he prepared to launch his devastating attack. **"Take this!"** the massive creature roared as a huge beam erupted from his mouth.

The beam engulfed Hagoromo's position and didn't stop in its path of destruction as it illuminated the iridescent world in a bright red until the dragon himself finally decided to put an end to it.

While the intense beam of energy was slowly fading out, Great Red briefly wondered if that had been enough to defeat the white haired entity, though much to his shock, the answer turned out to be very different from what he expected.

" _You lose if you yield."_

The words rang out eerily, before a dense torrent of white energy suddenly came forth into existence, sweeping away the last remnants of the creature's previous attack as it rose in intensity with every passing second.

Two violet lights shone ominously in the center of the growing maelstrom of energy, causing the surprised dragon to stare at it in disbelief once realization seemed to dawn upon him. Though he didn't get much time to dwell on that, because all of his thoughts were brought to an abrupt end a moment later, when a familiar voice sounded in authority throughout the dimensional gap.

" _ **Kneel."**_

Hagoromo commanded from within the vortex of energy, and, just like before, Great Red found himself plummeting through the endless abyss once more, this time, however, unable to even hope about breaking out of whatever was controlling him, as the power dominating his being appeared to be absolute.

The dragon kept falling through the iridescent void, crashing through numerous floating islands, until he finally came to a stop after hitting a much more massive landmass that formed in his path of descent from several other islands which were suddenly brought together.

Great Red grunted in pain after making a sizable crater in the gigantic landmass, though any thoughts regarding his momentary discomfort were immediately forgotten once his head was forcibly tilted upwards and his eyes took in the sight above him.

* * *

Given her nature as a being born from nothingness, Ophis rarely expressed any sort of emotion besides the occasional irritation that would cross her childlike features at times during her interactions with the annoying Dragon of Apocalypse.

And yet, while her grey eyes were fixated on what was transpiring before her, she couldn't help but develop an expression of disbelief as she gazed at something that her mind was unable to properly grasp.

Mere moments earlier, she had finally been able to sense something from the white haired entity when he had decided to become mor serious in his fight with Great Red. Once he became engulfed in that strange white energy emanating from all over his body, she had finally been able to get a glimpse at his power for the first time.

Though she had not been prepared for the realization that followed after that.

She, a being that was for all intents and purposes infinite, was unable to fully comprehend, let alone gauge the extent of the power casually released by the silver haired being. And as she kept her senses focused on the mind-boggling power of the white haired entity, she felt as though she was starting at a never-ending abyss that threatened to engulf her at any time.

It was an experience that stirred another emotion within the Infinite Dragon God. An emotion that even the mighty Dragon of Dragons had been unable to bring forth with all of his excessive displays of power.

Apprehension.

Ophis felt intimidated when that being's power suddenly surged to almost unbelievable heights, and her distress only became worse once she felt it blanket the entirety of the dimensional gap.

Though what followed next was something that actually managed to shatter her ever stoic demeanor.

The _thing_ that she witnessed the young man transform into made it more than clear to Ophis that the entire time she had been staring at an entity so far beyond her imagination, whose scope she would have never been able to fully grasp even if she spent an eternity trying to do so.

That thought alone was enough to make Ophis experience for the first time in her millennia of existence the emotion known as fear. The primal fear that any sentient being would feel whenever faced with something neither known to them, nor fully within their limit of comprehension.

* * *

" **I-Impossible..."** the battered dragon muttered in a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and fear as it stared at the _thing_ looming over him with a presence that almost overwhelmed his reasoning.

His frightened golden eyes looked upwards, for miles on, and the sole thing that they could see was pitch black.

Lustrous black flesh belonging to a gigantic eldritch monstrosity whose mere presence made Great Red feel tiny and insignificant in comparison.

Ten massive tails swished wildly behind the colossal form of the creature, though the dragon had long forgotten about them by the time his sight had finally settled upon the monstrosity's terrifying visage.

Numerous razor-sharp fangs bared in a wicked, sinister grin met Great Red's eyes as he was unable to tear his gaze away from the two glowing amethysts, whose rippling gaze seemed to pierce through his very being.

A deep, gravelly voice reverberating from above suddenly roused the shocked dragon from his stupor. **"So what do you think, mister dragon?"** Hagoromo asked in dark amusement, the menacing grin on his face widening into something even more disturbing. **"Are we having fun yet?"**

Hearing that made the dragon instinctively curl as much as he could within the shallowness of the large crater, in an attempt to make himself smaller and less noticeable.

The eldritch monstrosity towering over him like a menacing giant looked as if it was ripped straight out of the worst of nightmares, and was without a doubt something far beyond his comprehension.

" **J-Just what are you...?"** Great Red struggled to speak through his fright, his voice slightly cracking at the sinister presence looming over his entire being.

Hagoromo merely chuckled in response, the deep, rumbling sound of his mirth almost making the dragon tremble with dread when also coupled with his wide grin. **"Care to take a guess?"**

However, his question was not met with any answer, as the terrified dragon seemed to be putting all of his efforts into struggling to maintain whatever was left of his composure.

" **You're being awfully silent, you know?"** Hagoromo pointed out. **"Where is all that big talk from before? Did I accidentally beat it out of you?"**

Great Red continued to remain silent, his mind too overwhelmed by the monstrosity's terrifying presence to form any coherent response.

Tremors shook the entirety of the island as Hagoromo placed his huge, bulky arms on the ground, leaning closer to the frightened dragon. **"You're being no fun right now, you know that?"** An insincere and unbelievable pout appeared on his face. **"And here I thought that you would entertain me a little more. Such a shame."**

In the face of such a display, Great Red quickly found out that it was impossible for him to shrink back any further.

An almost imperceptible shiver shook the dragon's frame as Hagoromo brought his menacing visage closer to the frightened creature. **"Anyway, it looks like it's game over for you."** His eerie smile returned with his next words. **"But don't worry. You will get an even better chance to practice your social skills where I'm about to send you."**

Great Red looked confused upon hearing that, though he at least managed to fight off his dread enough to regain his speech. **"What... What do you mean?"**

Hagoromo's smile widened in response. **"Ever heard of the Chaos Gods?"**

The question didn't seem to ring any bells for the apocalypse dragon, so he merely kept silent, waiting for the eldritch monstrosity to continue.

" **No?"** Hagoromo chuckled, the deeply grating sound of his mirth sending another chill down Great Red's back. **"That's even better."**

Drawing his face away a little from the shivering dragon as to give him some space to breathe, he looked in amusement at the pitiful creature. **"Though before we depart, here is some advice to help you get that nice first impression done properly."** He raised one of his hands, curling his thumb over his index as if loading a spring. **"When you meet Tzeentch, just tell him that Big G is sending his regards; and that I would like to have you introduced to the others. He will know what to do from there. Oh, and remember to be polite."**

Great Red nodded mechanically, idly watching how the clawed hand drew closer and closer to him as the previous words had yet to properly sink in his stupefied mind. Realization eventually dawned on him, though it was too late for him to do anything. Not that he could have done much, anyway.

" **Now then, mister dragon,"** Despite the nonchalant smile present on his face, Hagoromo's expression still looked rather unnerving due to his inherently menacing features. **"Have a nice journey! Godspeed!"** His parting words were immediately followed by a flick of his fingers, giving the apocalypse dragon no time to react as he casually broke the sound barrier and became a shooting star across the dimensional gap.

A space-time fissure appeared in the iridescent void moments later, promptly swallowing Great Red from his indefinite trajectory, before disappearing without a trace.

The brief silence that settled afterwards was soon interrupted by Hagoromo's chuckle. **"Heh... I feel like someone's wish just came true."**

* * *

Yuno was smiling in satisfaction as she watched through her byakugan how that overgrown lizard got thrown across the multiverse as if it was nothing but an annoying bug. It was just what it deserved for treating her beloved in such a disrespectful manner.

She might have not cared about it anymore, but a part of her wished that she could have dished out some punishment as well. If not for that reason, then simply because the annoying dragon had taken away _minutes_ from her precious time with her husband.

But since Hagoromo had told her that it was okay, then it didn't really matter anymore.

At any rate though, the fact that the lizard was on a crash course toward that persistent mollusk was sort of an icing on the proverbial cake for Yuno. If nothing else, that annoying Tzeentch would at least put its efforts into something that she didn't have any objections to.

Putting those unnecessary thoughts aside, Yuno felt that her current mood was rapidly improving. After all, there were no more annoyances to interrupt her happy time with her beloved.

With a bright smile on her face, she waited for he husband to end his transformation. Once that happened, she vanished from her spot and made her way to the floating island where he was also waiting for her.

* * *

"That was funny to watch," Yuno smiled at her husband as she appeared in front of him, before embracing him in an affectionate hug. "Probably even funnier for you to perform."

Hagoromo could only chuckle at his wife's well spirited mood. "It was quite entertaining. Better than what I expected anyway."

Ending their hug with a blissful sigh, Yuno looked at her husband with a curious gaze. "What now, though? Are you going to talk to that little girl, darling?" Her eyes briefly shifted to the side, where a small figure could be seen hovering in the distance. "She's been silently watching us from afar ever since you started teaching that overgrown lizard a lesson."

"That's right," Hagoromo answered with a smile. "She hasn't shown any hostility yet, so I assume that she might at least wish to speak with us about our presence here."

"Okay!" Stepping closer to her husband, Yuno rested her head on his right shoulder and glanced up at his amused expression once she noticed movement in the distance. "Looks like she's approaching us herself. It's good that at least she's not wasting our time."

Hagoromo brought his right arm around his wife's slender waist, hugging her frame closer to himself as he glanced in the same direction.

The couple watched as a young girl with long, dark hair soon landed swiftly in front of them, her black dress adorned with numerous frills slightly fluttering at the motion.

Grey emotionless eyes stared at them in silence for a few moments, before the girl finally opened her mouth and spoke in a soft monotone. "Thank you, for kicking Great Red out of my home."

Hagoromo briefly studied the girl's expressionless face, before a pleasant smile formed on his lips. "You are welcome," he said in reply. "It seems that he was causing you trouble as well. Quite the noisy one, wasn't he?"

Ophis merely nodded in response, allowing silence to return once more among the three occupants of the iridescent world. They seemed to be content just studying each other with their gazes for the time being.

Despite what she garnered from her observations so far, Ophis still didn't know what to make of the white haired individual standing in front of her. Though she was at least able to figure out that he should not become hostile toward her, unless somehow provoked. Or that was what she liked to believe.

Either way, she wasn't going to attempt anything, because unlike that annoying dragon she actually had enough common sense to not poke unknown eldritch entities.

The pink haired female, however, was somewhat less enigmatic to Ophis. She didn't have that much insight on the young woman either, but from what she had seen so far, she only seemed to respond with hostility to those whom she perceived as trying to get between her and her mate.

The seemingly pleasant yet subtly menacing glare that the girl has been giving her for the past minute was enough to reinforce that conclusion in the Infinite Dragon God's mind.

This female entity was very possessive and protective of her mate, and now that she looked at the whole matter in more detail, Ophis could say that the same seemed to be true for the young man himself. Some of his previous actions clearly spoke for themselves in this aspect.

And yet, the pink haired one was still much more unnerving to Ophis, simply because she could see the twisted dissonance between what the young woman was expressing through her intent and what she was actually projecting outwardly.

That was enough to make the Infinite Dragon God wary of the young woman, perhaps more so since she was not able to sense anything from her either. The girl was most likely close in terms of power to the white haired man's level, so Ophis had no express wish to get on her bad side any time soon. She had just obtained her long desired silence after all.

Putting her musings to an end for the time being, Ophis finally broke the silence as she addressed the rose haired girl in the same flat, inexpressive voice as earlier. "I am not a threat to you or your mate, and neither do I intend to become one."

Hagoromo kept his amiable smile playing on his lips. "That's good to know, I suppose." Despite the girl's emotionless visage, he could discern some faint traces of apprehension in her eyes. Not that surprising though, considering the little display he had put on earlier while dealing with that dragon.

Yuno, on the other hand, gained a beatific smile the moment she registered what the dark haired girl told her, and her entire demeanor changed in the next moment, as if she hadn't been glaring in subtle threat at the girl for the past couple minutes.

"Okay!" Yuno's cheerful voice further emphasized her sweet smile as she replied. "Then there shouldn't be any problems between us."

Ophis simply nodded in response, though it came a little stiffer than what she intended. The expression now present on the woman's face looked even more unsettling to her than the previous one.

Hagoromo chuckled in amusement at the interactions between his wife and the little girl, before he seemed to realize something. "Ah, I believe that some introductions are in order," he said. "I am Hagoromo." Motioning with his free hand to the rose haired woman on his right, he added. "And this lovely goddess is my beloved wife, Yuno."

The dark haired girl gave another curt nod. "I am Ophis." She introduced herself in her unchanging monotone, before pointing at a random place of the surrounding multicolored world. "This is my home, the dimensional gap."

Yuno giggled at the little girl's introduction. "Nice to meet you!" She found the contrast between her appearance and behavior to be pretty funny.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ophis," Hagoromo said. "We thank you for your hospitality."

Ophis stared blankly at the couple for the better part of the next minute, time during which she idly contemplated on how long it might take her to get used to their eeriness. "You are welcome."

Hagoromo smiled placidly at her reply. "I hope you don't mind our presences here. Our sudden arrival might seem as an intrusion after all."

Ophis thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "You helped me regain the silence of my home. I don't mind you two being here." Though a hint of curiosity entered her otherwise emotionless grey eyes. "But I have one question. For what reason have you come here?"

Hagoromo's lips further widened into a smirk. "To seek amusement." His eyes became sharper, giving his entire demeanor a rather ominous edge. "

Looking at his expression, Ophis quickly realized that it was as unnerving as the one she had seen earlier on the woman's face, perhaps even more so. This white haired man certainly felt like someone whose ire she shouldn't gain.

As for his motive of coming to the dimensional gap, she didn't find any issues with it. Strange as his reason might have seemed to her, she couldn't really say anything about it. After all, she wasn't exactly versed in matters related to entertainment.

Though she could at least tell that his interest must be residing in one of the other worlds, because there wasn't anything else to be done in the dimensional gap besides staring at the ever shifting colors. And he didn't seem like the type to enjoy doing something like that.

In the end, Ophis reached a simple conclusion about his objective. Just as she had been trying to regain the silence of her home, this entity appeared to be seeking entertainment for himself and his wife.

"I see," the petite girl interrupted the brief silence with her curt response.

"Would this be all, Ophis?" Hagoromo asked.

"No..." Ophis remembered the main reason why she had approached the two deities in the first place. "You helped me a lot in the end. I wish to give you something in return."

Hagoromo smiled faintly at the girl's words. He would make good use of her gratitude. "I believe your continued hospitality has been enough of a compensation already. Even more so, if we take into account the circumstances of our arrival." Though he didn't dislike her naivety and innocence. Not just because it made things easier for him, but also because it contrasted rather nicely with her childlike persona.

"I, insist." Despite her blank expression, Ophis didn't seem like she would let this matter drop easily.

Yuno had to stifle a giggle in her husband's robe as she kept watching the little girl's emotionless act. She idly noted that Ophis might actually be good at deadpan humor if she ever tried.

Hagoromo was looking amused as well, though for slightly different reasons. The most prominent of which being the fact that Ophis was playing straight into his palm.

Or how one of his more interesting acquaintances was fond of saying, _Just as planned_.

Not only was she going to provide them some much needed insight on the world, but she was also going to have a rather important role in his little project. With just a little more grooming, she would make a splendid Overseer for his religion in this particular universe.

Briefly glancing at his wife, Hagoromo want surprised by the knowing smirk playing on her lips. He already expected her to have figured out his intentions, their spiritual bond notwithstanding. She was simply getting that much better at reading him. Which was, once again, to be expected. She was his wife after all.

His own mouth twitched into a matching smirk as he turned his attention back on the dark haired girl.

Ophis looked like she had spent the entire time staring blankly at the two deities, simply waiting patiently to be given an answer.

She wondered at some point what the white haired entity might be thinking about so deeply, though she had no success in figuring out the mystery, before receiving her response from him.

"Very well," Hagoromo said, his voice smooth and elegant. "Then how about you join us for the rest of the day while we take a closer look at your world. Any insight that you could provide us on its history would be nice."

Ophis idly noted that his voice was very pleasant to listen to, though she didn't dwell much on that thought. Moving on to consider his proposal, she nodded in agreement after a few moments. "I, accept." It didn't seem like it would be anything too complicated for her, and she could tell that there was no deceit in his words.

"Wonderful," Hagoromo said, before clasping his hands together. "But before we depart, there is one more thing to be done."

Ophis gave him an inquisitive look, to which he smiled at her. "My two most loyal followers will be joining us as well."

It wasn't a smile that she disliked, though she couldn't help but find it a little out of place. It was supposed to be a pleasant expression, yet it felt as if it was wrong somehow, disturbing even. And despite how much she tried to, she couldn't exactly say as to why it felt so eerie to her. Which was odd, because he seemed like a really nice person to her.

Ophis was suddenly brought out of her musings a moment later by Hagoromo's voice.

" **Kuchiyose."**

The dark haired girl looked in curiosity at the multitude of strange symbols that appeared on the cracked ground, crawling beneath his feet into an intricate pattern.

A plume of smoke engulfed the area next, moment when Ophis sensed two unknown presences arrive into the dimensional gap.

Focusing her senses on them, she was mildly surprised once she realized that she could discern a strange but powerful energy dwelling within these two. It reminded her of what she had sensed when Hagoromo had blanketed her entire home with his power, right before he had transformed into that terrifying creature.

But in this case, the power she could sense in these two did not even come close to compare with that overwhelming sensation that had washed over her being at that time. Except perhaps for the faint traces of what seemed like Hagoromo's own power mingled with their respective energies.

This great difference was most likely the reason why she could even sense their power in the first place, as opposed to the divine couple standing before her, whom she couldn't even tell whether they were there to begin with, unless she relied solely on what her eyes showed her.

As the smoke slowly dispersed, Ophis was able to discern the frames of the two newly arrived individuals.

One of them was a young man with short, white hair that looked a little feminine by face alone, despite resembling Hagoromo rather closely in appearance. They were most likely related, though she couldn't say to what extent.

The other person was a slightly older looking man, with short, grey hair and wine colored eyes. His attire consisted of a dark robe left open to expose his chest, and perhaps also the silver rosary with an eye-like symbol hanging around his neck.

The two young men immediately knelt before the two deities, bowing their heads in deference.

"Rise." Hagoromo's voice broke the silent atmosphere as he looked at his two most zealous followers. "Toneri, Hidan." He motioned to the dark haired girl standing behind them as she watched them with a curious gaze. "This is Ophis. She will be our guide for the rest of the day."

Both young men bowed their heads in acknowledgment.

"Understood, Lord Hagoromo."

"Yes, my Lord."

Before silence could once again settle among the five occupants of the dimensional gap, Hagoromo glanced at Ophis and asked. "Shall we?"

"Yes." The girl nodded in response.

The next moment, a large portal opened a few feet away from them.

* * *

Hagoromo's gaze casually swept over his surroundings as he silently beheld the world meeting his eyes for the first time.

From his spot atop a fairly large building, he could easily see most of the bustling town beneath as it was bathed in the burnished glow of the midday sun.

The scenery itself wasn't something exactly noteworthy. What made the city interesting however, and subsequently this particular world itself, were the multitude of peculiar life signatures that he could already pick up on his senses.

A tinge of excitement tugged at his lips once he extended his perception across the entirety of the world. There was so much variety that he couldn't help but smile frivolously at the prospects. It was even better than what he had initially expected.

Deciding to take a brief glimpse at the world's potential as a whole, Hagoromo loosened his hold a little on one of his more powerful abilities. While normally kept on a tight leash in the form of a simple sixth-sense that would not interfere with his amusement, the current situation could use some of his omniscient precognition.

He wasn't aiming for any spoilers, so there would be no downside to his curiosity. He was only looking for a general image of this world's state of affairs. Just a bit of required insight that would help him better craft his plots of amusement.

Bringing up his left arm, he upturned his hand as if holding something unseen to anyone else, and focused for a moment.

Like admiring innumerable grains of sand carried by a gust of wind to his opened palm, in that very instant he briefly glimpsed upon the countless futures and silently contemplated.

The smile on his lips changed into a disconcerting smirk that spoke of no reassurances for the recipients of his upcoming schemes.

And thus concluded Hagoromo's first impression of the new world. One so ripe with possibilities, the many pieces in await for him to move and realign.

Truly a most suitable playground for a whimsical God. To whom all that remained was to set the stage and pick a proper cast for the performance.

"That smile again." Yuno chimed in next to her husband's side, drawing his attention from his idle musings. "Already devising a nefarious plot, aren't you?"

"Nefarious, eh?" Hagoromo raised an eyebrow in amusement at his wife. "You mean to those who are bound to not exactly appreciate my meddling around here, right?"

Yuno giggled in response, latching herself around the young man's right arm and placing her head on his shoulder. "Yup!" A moment later she smiled happily, looking up at his amused face in curiosity. "So, what's the big plan, darling?"

Hagoromo couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed his wife's spirited gaze. She was being so endearing and cute without even trying. "Nothing too complicated, my dear. We just toy around a bit with the world." His eyes gleamed with amusement as he elaborated. "Think of a board game as an analogy, except on an universal scale." He gestured airily at the surroundings, his narrowed eyes reflecting a twisted glee by the time he reached his conclusion. "A Game of Life, I suppose."

His words were met with another amused giggle from the young girl. A knowing smile formed on Yuno's lips as she gazed at her husband's sharp features, admiring his delightfully ominous smirk. "What about the rules, though?" She asked with slightly curious eyes, though expecting his answer to consist mostly of his trademark levity.

"Rules?" Hagoromo's seemingly innocent tone coupled with his bemused expression might have fooled anyone else. The frivolous smirk that stretched his lips a moment later was a dead giveaway to her. "What rules?"

Yuno felt a wave of laughter bubble in her chest upon hearing his answer. Yup, it was just as she had expected. "This poor world is not ready for your relentlessly cheerful and carefree disposition," she remarked merrily. "They won't even know what hit them."

Hagoromo's smirk widened in response, giving his countenance even more of an edge. "No world will ever be truly ready for me." Saying that, he shared a moment of mirth with his wife, both of them laughing at what they knew would soon befall the world standing before their eyes.

After a minute or so, they turned around and went to get the other three occupants of the rooftop, who seemed to be finishing a discussion of their own.

* * *

"Man, look at how tall these buildings are!" Hidan exclaimed with the excitement of a child while staring at the scenery visible from the rooftop where he had arrived after stepping out of the portal. "I'm totally gonna jump from one of them the next chance I get!"

His enthusiastic claim was met with a straight face from his white haired partner standing only a few feet away from him.

"Hidan," Toneri stated in an almost routine manner, his flat tone sounding as if it was recorded. "Stop acting like a child."

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" Hidan immediately shot back in outrage, much like a child who was making a tantrum. "Stop treating me like one!"

Toneri just shook his head at his partner's behavior, before dismissing him completely in favor of glancing at the dark haired girl standing next to him.

Ophis was simply observing their interactions in silence, a blank expression present on her young features.

Looking back and forth between Toneri and Ophis, Hidan was about to make another childish remark about how he was being ignored, though he was left with his mouth half opened when he seemed to be struck by a sudden realization.

"Don't tell me..." Hidan was looking with narrowed eyes at the petite girl standing in front of him. "You actually want me to act like this emotionless doll?"

His comment immediately earned him the full attention of Ophis as she began staring at him with unblinking and apathetic grey eyes.

"Eh?" Hidan sounded in confusion as he met the girl's prolonged stare. "That's seriously creepy." After an entire minute of staring at each other in uncharacteristic silence for him, he shifted his attention back on his partner. "Hey, Toneri, why is this little girl looking at me like she wants to put a curse on me or something?"

An almost inaudible sigh escaped Toneri's mouth at the eccentric man's behavior. "Perhaps because you are being annoying?" he offered, though still making it sound as if pointing out a fact. He immediately braced himself for the outburst that he knew his words would elicit from his partner, not even blinking once it began.

"You're taking her side now?!" Hidan shot back in a mixture of disbelief and outrage, though a particular thought occurring to him made him suddenly pause. "Wait..." A shocked expression quickly formed on his face. "Don't tell me that you're into little girls, man?!"

A muscle involuntary jumped in Toneri's jaw at his companion's reasoning. "How did you even manage to reach that idiotic conclusion?"

Hidan's demeanor took a one-eighty turn the moment he registered that question. Looking with an oddly serious expression at his best friend, the grey haired man spoke in a matching tone. "Well, I've never seen you show interest in any women during these past two years, and you've also rejected every single advance that any girl has made you so far." Hidan gave his partner a look of genuine concern. "You're making me worry, man."

This time Toneri couldn't hold back the rather loud sigh that left his lips upon briefly contemplating the grey haired man's logic. Idiotic as he was, Hidan actually had a surprisingly good way of getting under someone's skin.

"Did it ever occur to you that I might have just _not been_ interested?" Toneri replied, putting emphasis on his words as if talking to a mentally ungifted child. "Not to mention the fact that we have both been occupied nurturing Lord Hagoromo's religion?" A particular thought crossing his mind suddenly brought an amused glint in his eyes. "But don't you find it funny how your words can also be used to describe your own situation?"

Scratching the back of his head, Hidan chuckled sheepishly. "He, he, you're right..." he said in realization. "I'm also picky when it comes to women, and as you said, we've been too busy to have time for this kind of stuff."

Toneri's lips quirked into a faint smirk in response, causing Hidan to point a finger accusingly at the young man once he noticed his expression. "Hey, you're making fun of me again!" he spoke irately.

Toneri's smirk only grew wider at his partner's reaction.

This was one of the few reasons why he had come to tolerate, and even form a somewhat odd friendship with the grey haired man.

Hidan might be boisterous, obnoxious, and most of the time just plainly annoying, but Toneri could vent most any of his pent-up frustrations on the man without having to put too much effort into it.

"You—" Hidan was about to mouth another rude retort, though he was suddenly interrupted by the dark haired girl, who had chosen this moment to end her period of silent observation.

"I, am torn." Ophis stated in her characteristic monotone as she kept her eyes fixated on the grey haired man.

"Eh?" Hidan turned his head and looked in confusion at the girl.

"You remind me of Great Red. But you are annoying in a different manner." The normally emotionless eyes of Ophis were now reflecting a glimpse of internal conflict. "It doesn't make me want to obliterate you. It is a more tame feeling..."

Unfortunately, since this was Hidan she was dealing with, most of the girl's words flew past his ears. "Huh? The fuck is a great red?" He blurted out in mild confusion. "And was that a compliment, or not?"

He didn't get any response, however, as both Toneri and Ophis seemed to have unanimously decided that it would be best to ignore him for the time being.

Looking at the dark haired girl, Toneri shared his own thoughts on the matter with her. "It's probably because he's an idiot. People like him tend to be tolerable when you can't help but pity them in most aspects."

Ophis nodded at the young man's words. "I see," she responded dully, her eyes gaining a thoughtful look that quickly gave way to one of understanding. "That makes sense. Thank you."

If she were to compare Hidan with the recently departed Great Red, then she would say that the former was more like a symbiotic creature, whereas the latter was akin to a parasitic one.

In other words, she would most likely come to tolerate Hidan, if given enough time to get accustomed to his eccentric behavior and attitude.

Thinking that they might finally enjoy some silence once their conversation seemed to have reached its end, Toneri and Ophis were unfortunately reminded that such a thing was not going to happen any time soon.

"That was totally uncool, man!" Hidan pointed out, sounding rather incensed. "I may be stupid, but you don't have to remind me about it so often, you know?"

Toneri simply waved him off nonchalantly as he looked in another direction. "Whatever you say, Hidan."

"Hey!" Hidan shot back in indignation. "Don't brush me off so casually!"

Toneri shook his head in slight exasperation, before completely dismissing the grey haired man as he instead chose to admire the scenery visible from atop the tall building.

With both Toneri and Ophis no longer paying him any attention, Hidan was left to silently fume to himself, before eventually returning to his own devices.

Once a relative silence settled among the trio, Ophis stopped observing the two men, only to quickly realize that she had actually enjoyed a little being part of the entire exchange.

As her eyes gained a thoughtful look to them in response to that, she began wondering whether this particular instance could be classified as an example of the entertainment that Hagoromo had spoken to her about earlier.

The period of silence didn't last for long, as the three of them soon had their attention drawn to the approaching figure of Hagoromo once they heard him speak.

* * *

"I must say, Ophis," Hagoromo's mouth slowly upturned into a smile as he glanced at the impassive girl. "Your world is an interesting place. It almost feels like a lively menagerie."

Somewhat expected, his words didn't elicit any visible response from Ophis, her stoic demeanor remaining unperturbed as she merely stared at him with a dull gaze.

"Okay..." Her response came after some moments of silence, in the same monotone that everyone had more or less come to expect from her by now.

Despite her apparently emotionless gaze, though, there seemed to be some faint traces of curiosity that gave some color to her otherwise blank expression.

Yuno had to stifle a giggle upon noticing that. It was quite entertaining to watch how her beloved was slowly bringing out some emotion from this supposedly emotionless deity through simple verbal interactions.

"Eh... what's a menagerie?" Hidan blurted out, not really surprising anyone with his characteristic behavior, though managing to draw all attention on himself for a few moments.

Hagoromo and Yuno smiled in amusement at the grey haired man, whereas Ophis simply stared at him with unblinking eyes.

Toneri, on the other hand, seemed to have taken his comrade's sudden outburst as yet another one of his casual displays of stupidity, and thus decided to act accordingly.

"Be quiet, Hidan." Toneri ordered, briefly veering his attention away from his divine lord to chastise the childish man. "You are interrupting a serious conversation with your immaturity."

"Hey, don't patronize me!" Hidan retorted irately.

"Oh?" Toneri raised a thin, silvery eyebrow in response. "That's a rather big and complicated word for you. If you're not careful, you might accidentally choke on it."

"You're doing it again!" Hidan snapped. "You wanna fight me, or what? Huh, daifuku?!" He raised a fist in a threatening gesture. "I'd be more than happy to show you some of my newest moves with my scythe."

"Now, now, children." Hagoromo smoothly placated the escalating situation. "I'm certain that you can leave this little argument for another time. It would be a shame if we had to give away our surprise at such an early time, wouldn't it?"

Toneri immediately faced his many times great uncle and gave a short bow of his head. "Of course, Lord Hagoromo."

Hidan also seemed to rapidly cool down from his previous anger as he regarded Hagoromo with his entire attention as well. "Yes, my Lord!" he uttered, giving a more passionate bow than his partner.

"I'm glad that you understand." Hagoromo looked at his two most loyal followers with a warm smile. His attention was eventually drawn away from them when he felt a light pull at the fabric of his robe. "Oh? Anything the matter, Ophis?" he asked curiously as he glanced down at the stoic girl.

Ophis quickly let go of the white garment when she noticed the pair of cerise eyes staring at her intently. "I have a question," she asked.

Hagoromo smiled disarmingly at the stoic girl. "Sure, ask away." He hugged his wife closer to his frame as he noticed the subtle glares she was sending in the other deity's direction.

Feeling herself pulled closer into his affectionate embrace, Yuno immediately shifted her full attention back on her husband, smiling lovingly at him.

"What was the power that you used against Great Red?" Ophis inquired with a note of curiosity in her dull tone. "I couldn't properly grasp it, but I could tell that it was much beyond me the moment you blanketed my home with it."

A placid smile formed on Hagoromo's lips. "My power is known as chakra." He glanced at Yuno. "It is shared by my dear wife," His gaze shifted to Toneri. "My nephew," Then it moved on the grey haired man. "And Hidan."

"Chakra?" Ophis looked slightly bemused at the explanation. "I cannot sense anything of the sort within you. You possess no such energy."

Hagoromo's mouth twitched in amusement as his gaze returned on the impassive deity. "I didn't ascertain you to be the ignorant type, Ophis." His playful tone made it very hard for his words to be perceived as insulting. "Anyway." Raising his left arm, he waited a few moments before a white pigeon landed on the back of his gloved hand. "Consider this."

"Yes?" The stoic girl carefully observed the winged creature perched on the older deity's extended hand.

"If I were to name this pigeon after you, would that make the two of you the same just by that association alone?" Hagoromo's simple question was met with silence.

Ophis looked at the white bird for a few moments while contemplating Hagoromo's words, before shaking her head. "No." Was her flat reply.

Smiling at her response, Hagoromo winked at her knowingly. "It's the same for my chakra."

Ophis stared blankly at the white haired deity for the better part of the next minute, her childlike features eventually gaining an expression that could somewhat pass for a slight pout if one were to look closely.

It looked rather out of place on her usually impassive face, despite actually fitting her physical appearance. Though that was also probably due to it being the first time when she made such an expression to begin with.

"Is that a pout I see?" Hagoromo teased with a note of amusement in his voice. "Or perhaps I am being mistaken here?" He lightly shook his hand, sending the pigeon away. "Hmm?"

Ophis didn't give any verbal response, though she quickly reassumed her normally stoic demeanor as she seemed to fall deep in her thoughts.

Noticing that his conversation with the little girl was finally over, Yuno snuggled even closer to her husband's side and simply observed him in silence as a content smile found its way on her delicate features.

Toneri appeared to have carefully listened to the entire conversation between his uncle and Ophis, although Hidan was completely immersed in watching an airplane land on a nearby airport, an expression of awe that certainly didn't match his age showing on his face.

"Toneri, Hidan." Hagoromo drew their attention after a brief period of silence, the two males immediately regarding him with their undivided attention. "Before we get any further, I will give you some necessary knowledge to better understand this unfamiliar world."

The two bowed their heads in acknowledgement and walked up to their Lord, before kneeling in front of him.

"Ophis," Hagoromo said, glancing at the thoughtful girl as he brought her out of her deep musings. "You may begin telling us about the history of your world whenever you feel ready."

Placing his hands on the heads of his two followers, he simply smiled in acknowledgement to the impassive deity's dull response.

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the original concepts and plots that I have introduced into this story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Knight to E4**

Ophis stared with calm, unblinking eyes at the small cup filled with steaming liquid that was just placed on a saucer in front of her. She was seated at a small table in the middle of a modestly decorated room, idly taking in the fragrant aroma slowly wafting from her freshly brewed tea.

Her grey eyes briefly traveled from her teacup to the opposite end of the table, where an identical cup was being filled with the same hot liquid by the person in whose company she had spent most of the day.

The young man's wife was right next to him, her head resting on his lap as she seemed to be simply enjoying his presence.

Despite spending some significant time in their admittedly pleasant company, Ophis could still not fully shake off the ominous feeling that seemed to linger around the pink haired woman.

On the other hand, however, most of her subtle apprehension toward Hagoromo seemed to have vanished at some point during their time spent together. The white haired deity could still appear unnerving at times, though she could tell that he didn't have any malice toward her.

Neither did Yuno, yet there was something about her that kept putting Ophis on edge whenever she became the target of the woman's fleeting attention.

This was something that confused Ophis. She couldn't say that their company has been unpleasant. In fact, the time she had spent around the two deities had been... nice. The same kind of nice that she used to describe the feeling of tranquility in her home.

Could she just be thinking too deeply into the matter? Maybe this aura of dread surrounding the pink haired girl was simply part of her nature?

Perhaps she should just try to get accustomed to this foreboding presence of hers instead. After all, she knew that there wouldn't be any issues as long as she kept within her own boundaries.

The sound of Hagoromo placing the teakettle back on the table brought the dark haired girl out of her contemplation. Ophis watched impassively as he brought his own teacup to his mouth with refined elegance and took a sip from the warm liquid.

"Thank you for your assistance, Ophis." Hagoromo spoke, glancing at the stoic girl seated across from him. "Your knowledge on this world was very helpful and much appreciated."

Ophis didn't give any visible sign of acknowledgment to his words, except for blinking once as she kept staring blankly at the enigmatic duo in front of her. Though after realizing that she had yet to touch her own tea, she picked up her cup with a dainty movement and drank half of its content, before resuming her silent watching.

Smiling placidly at the girl's behavior, Hagoromo cast his gaze downward to where his wife was resting her head on his lap and began playing with a lock of her rose colored hair. This earned him a happy smile from Yuno as she snuggled her face deeper into the fabric of his robe.

Ophis' monotone voice suddenly cut through the silent atmosphere of the room. " You are welcome." Her delayed reply prompted Hagoromo to regard her in mild amusement as she spoke next. "Before I leave, I have a question."

Hagoromo's lips formed into a light smile. "Let's hear it." He said, taking another sip from his tea.

"Why are you so interested in humans?" Ophis fixated the white haired deity with her spiritless gaze, her eyes gaining an oddly curious glint as she opened her mouth to speak again. "What do you find so entertaining about observing them?"

These questions had been on her mind for a while, though the reason she didn't ask them up to this point was simply because she had wanted to see if she could figure the answers by herself first.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to do that. The things she garnered about Hagoromo after being around him so far weren't enough to bring her pondering to any satisfactory answer. Therefore, she decided that she would simply ask him now in order to satisfy her curiosity.

Hagoromo's mouth quirked in amusement at the taciturn girl. He was expecting to be asked these questions by her sooner or later. A moment later, he gave his reply.

"Humans are fragile things. Born with no real purpose, and imperfect by nature." He said, sipping the remaining tea from his cup. "They believe to possess infinite potential, when in truth, most are unable to rise past a certain threshold, their own nature being their greatest foe."

Ophis listened intently to the snow haired deity's words, her curious eyes never breaking contact with his amused expression.

"Yet they still try to reach for things far beyond their grasp, some of them unwavering in their attempts." Hagoromo's voice gained a sharper note as he spoke, and a fierce smirk tugged at his lips. "Then there are those who do not yield, no matter what the hardship they face. Those who are simply relentless in their pursuit, unable to give up on what they seek."

His attention was briefly drawn to his wife when he felt her arms wrap affectionately around his waist. After sharing a meaningful gaze with her, he returned his attention on the dark haired girl across from him.

Ophis felt a little unnerved at how disconcerting the young man's expression was, though she instead focused on his speech, which was far too interesting to let herself become distracted.

"The strength of the human will is a fascinating thing to observe. To see how far such flawed creatures can reach just by their conviction alone." Hagoromo continued, more of his ominous nature seeping through his cheerful facade. "Their tenacity as well. The extent of their beliefs. The limit to their resolve. Whether they prevail or give in. Whether they rise or fall. Whether they remain resolute, or ultimately succumb."

She had never considered such things before, and despite the menacing presence that the wise deity was exuding, listening to him speak felt like a novel learning experience to her. She could tell that a newfound interest was being stirred within her by his words alone.

"Their unpredictability is another entertaining aspect that I greatly enjoy." Hagoromo added, his voice gaining a jolly tune reflecting of his internal amusement, yet heavily contrasting with his overall demeanor. "Humans are very interesting beings to toy with, and observing their reactions to the various situations in which I place them brings me quite the enjoyment."

Ophis was focusing so intently on his speech that she looked uncharacteristically absorbed by now. It was more than clear that she found everything he said to be very interesting.

Hagoromo reached his conclusion with a pleasant smile that reduced most of the unnerving atmosphere surrounding him. "This is why I am so interested in humans." Saying that, he took a moment to pour himself another cup of hot tea, before returning his attention on the dark haired girl.

Ophis was silently mulling over what she had just been told.

This perspective of viewing humans was something completely new to her.

Up to this point, she had thought of them to be merely inconsequential existences to her, and had never bothered to consider them any further past this label.

Yet as she was replaying Hagoromo's words inside her mind, she could clearly see that there was indeed more to these humans than what she had initially thought to be the case.

A curiosity was sparked inside her by this realization. It was a rather foreign sensation, and she would definitely ponder more deeply into the subject once she returned to her home.

"I see." Ophis interrupted the brief silence, though despite her curt response, there were faint traces of interest in her otherwise dull voice.

Her eyes caught sight of the remaining liquid in her cup, and she decided to finish the last of her tea by drinking it in a single sip. She idly noted that it still tasted pretty good, even if it was no longer warm.

Glancing back at the white haired deity, she placed the teacup back on the table. "I, shall leave now." By this point, her voice was already back to its usual monotone. "Thank you for the hospitality."

Hagoromo smiled amiably at the stoic girl. "You can visit us anytime you want, Ophis. We will be here for most of the time, so feel free to stop by and say hello."

"Okay." Ophis stood up from the table and stared unblinkingly at the duo for a while, most likely thinking about how to proceed next. "Goodbye." She said after a few moments, before opening a small portal matching of her height behind herself.

Turning around, she walked toward the iridescent void, though she soon felt another foreign sensation course through her as she was about to step inside the dimensional gap. It felt like during the times when she was trying to enjoy the silence of her home, only for it to be abruptly cut short by that loud, annoying dragon.

Not really understanding what this feeling was supposed to mean in this case, Ophis dismissed it and continued her slow paced walk toward her home, her small frame quickly disappearing inside the swirling colors of the gap.

The portal closed itself shortly after, and a brief silence settled over the atmosphere of the room. Though it didn't last long, courtesy of the rose haired goddess.

Yuno gave her husband a playful look. "Aren't you going to say it?" she asked somewhat cryptically.

Hagoromo arched an eyebrow. "Say what, my dear?" His knowing smile removed most of the credibility from his oblivious tone.

Yuno saw right through his act. Not that he put any effort in hiding it to begin with. "You know you aren't fooling anyone here, right darling?"

Hagoromo looked in amusement at his wife. "Oh? Is that so?" he queried airily.

Yuno met his question with a sweet smile. "Yep~" she singsonged.

Hagoromo winked knowingly at his wife. "Then I guess I have no other choice." A smirk twitched on his lips as he spoke. "Looks like it went all according to plan."

Yuno couldn't help the giggles that escaped her mouth upon hearing him voice that last part. He could probably turn it into a catchphrase if he kept saying it so smoothly.

The rose haired goddess kept her affectionate gaze on her husband, simply observing him in the silence that followed their short discussion.

Not taking his eyes away from the smiling face of his wife, Hagoromo reached for his teacup and took a long sip. When he felt the arms wrapped around his waist snake their way up his body, before entwining around his neck, he had an inkling of what his wife was trying to do.

Just as he moved the cup away from his mouth, he was mostly ready for the pair of soft lips that suddenly pressed against his own, an act which allowed Yuno to drink some of the tea that he was about to swallow by deepening her kiss.

A few droplets of the warm liquid trickled down her chin as the young goddess sucked as much of the tea as she could, before her husband managed to finally swallow it.

Once she was done with her sensual plunder, she rested her head comfortably back on his lap, a mischievous smile playing on her lips as she looked at his slightly bemused expression.

Hagoromo kept silent for a few moments while he brought the teacup back to his mouth and drained it of its remaining content.

Calmly placing the cup back on the table with elegant ease, he veered his gaze downward at his smiling wife and met her cerise eyes. They held an impish glint that made her current mood more than clear to him.

"Do you want me to pour you another cup, my dear?" The corners of Hagoromo's mouth twitched into a smile as his voice gained an amused note. "I enjoyed your unconventional method of drinking tea, though I think that it might easily distract you from the activity itself."

Yuno giggled at her husband. "There's no need, darling." She smiled innocently, though it did nothing to mask the mischief still present in her eyes, or the sensual undertone in her voice. "I just wanted to have a little taste from you, that's all."

Hagoromo closed his eyes in momentary thought. His wife was being as endearing as always in her behavior, though he was going to make sure that her little attempt at teasing would be returned in kind when the time was right.

Humming softly in acknowledgment, the white haired deity brought up his gloved hand and wiped the lingering droplets of tea from his wife's chin. "How about we go take a stroll through the gardens now?" he offered.

"Okay~" Yuno agreed cheerfully, idly observing how the liquid on her husband's glove sizzled away into thin wisps of vapor.

The remaining tea from the kettle was also boiled away a moment later, vanishing into a faint plume of steam.

The two deities stood up from the table shortly after, with Yuno still clinging to Hagoromo's arm in an unsurprising display of synchronicity.

Exiting the room, they stepped into an austere hallway and walked at an unhurried pace toward its far end, passing by several other doors on their way.

After a couple minute of walking, they finally reached the exit, past which they were welcomed by the pleasant sight of their destination. A lavish garden filled with various types of exquisite flowers and vegetation.

The idyllic greenery stretched along the whole side of the building they had left, and it was split down around the middle by a narrow bridge that crossed over a small, clear pond.

Hagoromo took a few moments to admire the pleasant scenery alongside his wife, and briefly wondered whether he should add anything else to the place for the time being or not.

The surroundings themselves resembled those of a traditional Japanese shrine, save perhaps for the partially concealed entrance to what seemed to be an underground chamber of some kind.

The building behind them was the main part of the edifice, with it also being their place of residence. It was moderately sized and it visibly spanned less than a quarter of the entire space delimited by the shrine's boundaries.

The size of the shrine grounds was not that large either, as there was no need for that much space at the current stage of development. The territory could be easily expanded at any time, so there was no issue in that regard.

Not to mention that there was no need to garner any undue attention at this early point in time.

Scattered across the property, there were a number of several smaller housings, purposed to serve as lodgings for those who would be converted in the near future.

The front part of the shrine was mostly an open area paved with stone, though it held the occasional patch of greenery in between to give it a more vibrant atmosphere. Its purpose was to serve as the central gathering place for any visitors or followers.

In contrast, the rear side of the shrine contained the lush garden and pond which were part of the main building, as well as several other miscellaneous structures of varying utilities.

The whole establishment was built into the side of a mountain, at the outskirts of what appeared to be a bustling town, and was surrounded on all sides by sizable stone walls, created from joined mossy slabs, beyond which lay the vast expanse of a thick, concealing forest.

The entrance to the shrine featured a large, red tinted torii gate, which didn't leave much to the imagination of anyone who might have wondered about the purpose of the place.

As for the property grounds themselves, they were bereft of any other presence, aside from the divine couple itself.

Toneri had already departed early in the morning to begin his task of converting the populace of the town, whereas Hidan himself had decided to wander off to the forest in exploration after being told that he could do whatever he wished for the time being.

It made perfect sense, given the nature of Hidan's Inquisition.

After all, this was just the first morning since their arrival, so it would take some time until things started picking up enough for the grey haired man to be able to actively join the stage. But until then, he would have to entertain himself through other means.

Deciding that there was nothing else that needed to be added for the time being, Hagoromo brought his musings to an end and glanced at his wife, quickly drawing her attention.

They exchanged a brief, meaningful glance, and then resumed their walk, their destination being none other than the vibrant garden spanning before them.

* * *

A pair of green, weary looking eyes stared unfocused at a bright ceiling as their owner became even more slumped in his chair.

Blonde tresses framing a handsome face swayed slightly as the man brought one of his hands to his head in an attempt to alleviate a forming headache.

Despite the tranquil atmosphere of his personal quarters, it still seemed to be a futile endeavor on his part.

An almost inaudible yet somewhat drawn out sigh escaped the man's lips only a moment later as he silently thought back on the cause of his most recent worries.

Less than ten minutes ago, he had just concluded an urgent meeting with his brothers and sisters on a topic that visibly placed all of them in disquieted states.

A couple days before, the watchers gave him reports about a strange activity within the boundaries of the dimensional gap.

He had immediately issued a thorough inspection of the incident in response.

Not only was it his duty as the Archangel and current leader of Heaven, but Michael had been genuinely concerned by the unusual occurrence. After all, the dimensional gap was not a place with much activity to begin with.

The reports had concluded about a large scale battle having taken place, and from that information he had assumed that it had been just another altercation between the two incredibly powerful residents of the gap.

While extremely rare, there have been records of similar incidents in the past.

However, the latest updates received from the assigned watchers had prompted him to drastically reconsider this initial assumption.

Only a few hours earlier, Michael was given a report that had ended up with him having to hastily assemble a meeting among the Seraphs of Heaven, the sole subject of their discussion being the disappearance of the Apocalypse Dragon from the dimensional gap.

Another weary sigh escaped the Archangel's lips as he slumped even further in his chair, as if pressed down by a heavy, invisible burden weighing on his shoulders.

Things were already complicated enough for Heaven ever since their Father had passed away at the end of the Great War. This added worry was truly one of the last things that they needed right now.

Regardless of how he looked at the issue, it was still an unsettling development for the stability of the world.

An entity as powerful as the Dragon of Dragons suddenly vanishing without a trace was not something that could be waved off, even if said entity might have left due to a reason as mundane as boredom.

Not when there was the other, less likely avenue, that Michael didn't exactly wish to consider as being the probable case here, despite there being a real possibility for it to be true.

That was, for the disappearance of Great Red to be the result of some external factor, as it would have been impossible for Ophis alone to defeat the mighty dragon in a battle.

Michael briefly shook his head at the thought, feeling his headache grow at the implications brought on by such a possibility.

Not only would the balance of the entire world be at risk of being severely disturbed, but it might very well also spell a potential disaster for Heaven, if whatever entity that had been capable of such a feat turned out to be hostile.

Being caught up in another large scale conflict was something that Heaven could not afford at this time. The losses of something like that would be a devastating blow to them. One that they wouldn't be able to recover from with the current state of Heaven's system.

Shaking his head a little more vigorously than before, Michael dispelled the grim thoughts slowly gathering in his mind.

Taking into consideration the worst case scenario was something that should always be done, yet there was a difference between that and simply filling his head with negativity.

He was already trying to do everything possible with the limited information that they currently possessed, so dwelling upon such pessimistic scenarios before even knowing with certainty about what they were dealing with was something that he shouldn't be doing.

Feeling all of the previously accumulated weariness finally begin to take its toll on his mind and body, Michael closed his eyes and exhaled softly.

For now he would just have to wait and see what exactly it was that they were dealing with.

He had ordered the watchers to monitor the gap even more closely, so he was going to wait for their next update. Then he would consider his options in detail once more, and decide on the next plan of action.

After all, he was not one to make rash decisions based on mere assumptions. That would only spell out complete foolishness when it came to matters of such a critical importance.

* * *

The fading sound of footsteps against stone was heard as Hagoromo walked to the edge of what appeared to be a large underground lake.

A little over half a week had passed since their arrival, and the shrine grounds above were already populated with a handful of people, despite the rather early time of day.

His nephew had done an outstanding work during these past few days with the task of converting the populace of the town. Not that he had been expecting anything less from him.

Hagoromo's pale eyes absentmindedly gazed over the body of water glistening before him as he swiftly brought his thoughts back on the task at hand.

Glancing to his right, he was quickly met with a bright smile from his beloved wife who was sitting demurely on a nearby rock. He returned the smile, before veering his attention back on the lake as he extended his right hand above the water's surface.

The skin on his palm split itself open, enough just for a white colored drop to gather from within and fall into the water after the flesh mended itself.

Once the droplet touched the surface of the water, the entire lake shimmered a brilliant white as power and essence suffused through it, permeating it down to the last molecule.

The intense light diminished moments later, however, it never truly faded, as a faint silvery glow remained clinging to the surface of the water, giving it an ethereal feel to anyone who gazed upon it.

Sending one more fleeting glance to the now blessed body of water, Hagoromo smiled appreciatively, before turning around and looking at his wife.

"I wonder what this reminds me of?" Yuno mused out loud as she met her husband's gaze with a knowing smile.

Smirking in response, Hagoromo walked up to his wife and offered her his hand. "May it remain a mystery."

Yuno giggled as she was helped up to her feet. "That's it? No water to wine, or anything like that?" she asked in amusement.

"Impatient, are we?" Hagoromo looked equally amused at her remark. "But I can offer you some bread and fish for breakfast if you want."

"Sure, but then you'll have to feed everyone at the shrine," Yuno replied playfully.

Both of them shared a laugh in response to that, before silence returned once more over the atmosphere as Yuno hugged her husband's arm, leaning closer to him.

Sending one last glance at the gleaming water behind him, Hagoromo began climbing the set of stairs leading outside the cavern alongside his wife.

The blessed lake was going to play an important role in the future development of his religion.

Providing an easy and efficient method of baptizing the converts for them to become true followers of the Esoteric Faith was one aspect.

But there were also some other special properties granted to the water by his power, which would only make the baptism all that more unique to the converts.

Rejuvenation and relaxation were bound to make the entire process feel even more changing to those experiencing it.

* * *

Her raven brows slightly furrowed in a rather uncharacteristic expression as her gaze continued to sweep over the ever-changing colors of the dimensional gap, as if in search of something unknown to her.

It had been roughly a week since Ophis returned to the silence of her home, though, for the past few days, she had been feeling rather odd. Like something was amiss, and she wasn't able to exactly tell what it was, or why it was.

When she had stepped back into her liberated home after such a long time, she had felt a little nostalgic at first, but that feeling had quickly faded into one of content upon being greeted by the permeating silence of the iridescent void.

She had thought that she would be able to return to the same quiet life of the times long past, of the days before that annoying lizard had disturbed her silence, though as time steadily drained away, so too did her feeling of content leave her.

It started slowly, at an almost unnoticeable pace, yet after the first two days, it had become clear to her that something about this prevalent emptiness of her home was somehow displeasing her.

This realization had left Ophis puzzled for almost the entirety of that day, and only the fact that the feeling of discontent seemed to become more pronounced by the hour had moved her out of her stupor.

Not that her situation had somehow changed after that, for it didn't seem to matter how much time she spent rationalizing her predicament, because she hadn't been able to find a concrete answer to what was ailing her.

After all, she had experienced very few emotions during all of her millennia of existence, and none of those had seemed to match what she had been feeling for these past few days.

The only thing she was able to figure out, was the fact that her general unpleasant state seemed to become more accentuated every time her mind wandered to the time she had spent in the company of Hagoromo and Yuno.

Ophis' almost imperceptible frown suddenly became more pronounced and her gaze became slightly downcast at that thought.

She knew that the two peculiar entities must somehow be related to these baffling emotions of hers, yet she didn't actually know how.

She had contemplated this topic for the entirety of the past day, but she hadn't been able to come up with anything particularly relevant.

Only that she has most likely become like this ever since her departure from their shrine.

At that time, she had experienced something strange, but she had quickly dismissed the feeling due to not understanding what it could have meant.

Not that she understood it now either, however, after coming to experience it a few more times ever since, she had come to the conclusion that all of this was connected somehow.

The raven haired girl's frown lessened a little once she thought back on the day that she had spent in the pleasant company of the two deities.

Being around them had been nice, although a little odd due to some of the more peculiar interactions she had either witnessed or had been subjected to.

But in the end, it had still been overall nice for her.

Spending that day with them had been one of the highlights in the past millennium of her existence, if not even more.

Her thoughts suddenly drifted to the last conversation that she had with Hagoromo, prompting her grey eyes to become slightly unfocused as she fell even deeper in her contemplation.

His words had given her a new insight on the inner workings of the world, something that she doubted she could have reached on her own.

He was a very knowledgeable and wise entity, that was certain to Ophis.

Sure, she knew a lot of things as well, however, despite her knowledge accumulated over the many millennia of her existence, he seemed to be in possession of much more experience than her in many areas.

It was as if he had experienced living and the very act of existing in much more diversity than her. Which was something that she didn't doubt, since she had spent most of her life secluded in the emptiness of her home.

He was definitely wiser than her. Much, much wiser...

Then...

Perhaps he could help her understand these complicated feelings that she was experiencing?

The little girl's eyes noticeably widened at the sudden thought, and her previous frown completely vanished as it was replaced by her usual blank expression.

She briefly wondered why she hadn't thought of something like that yet, though she quickly discarded that idle thought in the favor of the idea itself.

If there was someone who could help her right now, then it definitely had to be the peculiar white haired deity.

She clearly remembered his parting words to her. He told her that she could come in visit anytime she wanted.

And with that, it was settled for Ophis. She was going to pay him a visit.

A moment later the raven haired girl opened a portal in the swirling colors of the void, before promptly hovering inside, her destination being that of a certain shrine in the human world.

* * *

On the fifth day since their arrival in the world, the morning found Hagoromo and Yuno walking at a leisure pace on the stone walkways of their establishment, their destination appearing to be the large torii gate that marked the entrance.

The shrine grounds were populated by a considerable amount of people of all ages and both genders, who were either converts or full fledged followers. They were all listening in silence to a sermon that was being held by Toneri in the gathering area at the front of the shrine.

His nephew seemed to be quite absorbed in his speech, and he voiced his words with such zeal that everyone was listening intently to everything that he had to say.

A smirk tugged at Hagoromo's lips as he observed this image of fervent piety for a little longer, before returning his gaze upon the walkway in front of him.

More people appeared to be arriving at the shrine grounds from the surrounding forest, passing through the gate in orderly fashion, though some of them showed a rather peculiar element distinguishing them from the others.

It was something that could easily be mistaken for an odd eye tattoo made in dark ink on their foreheads, when in truth it was so much more to those who knew of its true significance.

For those who held the marking on their flesh, they knew it for what it truly meant. It was the symbol of their faith, though it merely reflected on their skin that which they had accepted to be engraved on their souls.

Hagoromo's attention was promptly drawn to his right when he felt his beloved wife latch onto his arm while walking with a spring in her step by his side.

The people passing by didn't seem to be paying any attention to the two deities, which should have been impossible under normal circumstances, simply due to their unusual appearances alone.

But as things stood, it appeared that the many people visiting the shrine weren't even aware of the couple's presence walking in their midst, as though they were simply unseen to their eyes.

This was most probably the reason why Hagoromo and Yuno could be strolling so casually and carefree on the shrine's grounds in the first place, as there was no chance for them to be recognized for what they were.

Obviously, it was Hagoromo's own doing that ensured they wouldn't be identified until the time was right.

"So where are we going?" Yuno chirped in a sweet voice as she glanced up at her husband with an expression that made her look endearingly cute.

"To welcome our little guest," Hagoromo reminded with a smile. "She should be arriving any minute now."

"Oh, I almost forgot about her." Yuno didn't seem too thrilled at the thought, and it subtly showed in the slight dimming of her gaze. "Looks like she's coming back after all."

Hagoromo chuckled at his wife's words. "You've been playing really nice to her so far." His mouth formed into a smirk that would fill most people with disconcerting vibes. "It would be a shame to scare her off now, wouldn't it? She's going to be a very useful piece in the endgame. I'm planning to have her become the Overseer of this world."

Yuno smiled sweetly in response to that, her previous displeasure vanishing like magic. "You say that, but we both know how you are secretly hoping for me to go on another murderous rampage with the next occasion." Her voice held a teasing note to it as she spoke. "I know how much you love watching me go full on yandere mode, darling~. That delightful eye candy which I gave you while fighting against Kinshiki and Momoshiki has really left you wanting more, hasn't it?"

"Oh my! You read me like an open book, my dear." Hagoromo remarked in faux surprise. "But I can wait for it, if that's what you're concerned about. Being an ascetic priest for most of my life has taught me quite a few things, you know?"

Yuno giggled at that, her smile quickly gaining an impish edge. "Like what you've showed me on our wedding night?" She quipped innocently.

"Oh? So you're going with that one, eh?" Hagoromo asked in amusement.

Yuno tried her best to look as innocent as possible while holding a staring contest with her husband.

Hagoromo's lips twitched with mischief. "Then what about you, hmm?" he asked curiously. "I wonder how much you are looking forward to what you know for sure to come in the aftermath of such an event."

Yuno's cheeks became dusted with red as soon as she realized what her husband was implying. "Jeez, darling..." She quickly averted her gaze in mild embarrassment, her voice being only loud enough for him to hear as she mumbled a response. "Saying such things to a young lady right after speaking of your priestly virtues..."

Hagoromo simply chuckled in amusement at her act. Spinning his words while being coy at the same time was one of her specialties. Though despite the image she was projecting, he knew that she was having as much fun as he was.

Following their exchange, a pleasant silence settled among the two deities.

They soon crossed the red tinted gate and entered the forest, keeping at their walk for another minute or so, before eventually coming to a stop as they looked at a seemingly random spot in the distance.

* * *

A small portal opened amidst the dense vegetation of the forest, its presence concealed from all but two pairs of eyes.

The petite figure of a raven haired girl stepped out of the swirling colors of the portal, dismissing it with a brief thought as she began walking in the direction of the couple watching her from afar.

"Welcome back, Ophis." Hagoromo greeted the approaching girl amiably. "It's good to see you again."

Yuno already had a cheerful smile showing on her face. "Hey there, Ophis!" She waved in a welcoming manner at the girl. "Likewise."

Ophis stared blankly at them as she gave her curt reply. "I, have returned." Though if one looked closely at her seemingly inexpressive face, they would have noticed the faint glimmer in her eyes.

Both Hagoromo and Yuno easily caught that, the former smiling pleasantly at the dark haired girl, before motioning for her to follow as they began walking through the quiet forest.

Hagoromo glanced at the taciturn girl after a few moments of silence. "So how have you been, Ophis?" he asked with an equable disposition. "No more issues with your home, have you?"

The petite girl's features became furrowed in a somewhat troubled expression. "I... don't know..." Her unsure voice faded in the din of the forest as she kept staring ahead with unfocused eyes.

Hagoromo wasn't surprised by her response, and neither was his wife, though he still arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "How so?" His voice held an amused note to it as he spoke. "Has another annoying lizard decided to settle in there?"

Ophis gave him a blank look in response, but if one looked closely at her face, they would notice the tiniest of smiles upturning her lips. "No..." she replied laconically.

Hagoromo gave a thoughtful nod. "I see." His voice gained some seriousness to it, though his overall demeanor was still one of lightsomeness. "It looks like something is troubling you, Ophis. Do you want to talk about it?"

A thoughtful look accentuated the girl's frown as she pondered the offer. "One week ago... it felt nice spending that day together. But when I had to return home, I felt odd." Ophis explained, recalling how she felt at that time. "I didn't think much of it then. I didn't know what to think of it."

Glancing at the white haired deity, she noticed how attentively he was listening to her. It didn't take her long to realize that it made her feel nice, though she still couldn't explain to herself why.

"I tried to ignore that feeling and got back home. I liked having my silence back after so long... but for some reason it didn't last." Ophis continued in her usual monotone, giving a somewhat eerie air to her speech. "I thought it would be nice to have my silence back. But instead, I felt more odd as the days passed by." She took a few moments to think of how to properly describe those emotions. "I felt like I was missing something. But I couldn't figure out what, and I couldn't understand why."

Ophis made a pause from her speech to gather her thoughts. "When I thought back to the day I spent with you two, I felt a little better. Then I realized something." By now, her frowning expression had lightened a little. "That perhaps you could help me with this. Help me understand what I'm missing... and why missing it feels so unpleasant."

A faint trace of hope glimmered in her dull eyes as she glanced at the white haired young man walking by her side. "Can you?" she asked in a quiet voice, as though unsure of the answer she might get.

Hagoromo met the petite deity's gaze with a light smile. "I can." His confident reply caused the girl's frown to completely vanish. "I think it's something less complicated than what it might seem at a first glance."

Ophis eyed him with a curious expression forming on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Well, let's take it back from the beginning." Hagoromo raised a finger in emphasis. "You felt nice on that day we spent together, right?"

Ophis nodded in acknowledgment.

"But you felt unpleasant at the thought of leaving us?" Hagoromo further queried.

"Yes..."

"And you felt worse the longer you remained in the emptiness of the dimensional gap?"

Ophis nodded once more.

Despite the seemingly patronizing manner in which Hagoromo was talking to her, the way he reiterated her explanation actually made her understand her issue better.

"Yet you felt a little better while recalling the time you spent with us on that day, and that was how you decided to visit us again?"

Ophis gave another nod in response.

Looking at the stoic girl with a placid smile, Hagoromo delivered his conclusion. "You simply wish to recreate the enjoyable experience from that day. That strange emotion you have described is called longing." Seeing the bemused expression forming on her face, he added. "You just want to have more fun, Ophis."

Ophis blinked once as she took in his words, her eyes clearly reflecting her confusion. "Fun...?" The word felt a little strange coming out of her own mouth. Even the way she voiced it sounded as if she had just spoken it for the first time in her life.

Hagoromo smiled in understanding at her. "Before we get further into that topic, please answer me this question."

Ophis simply acknowledged his words with a slight nod.

"How else did you pass the time during the past few millennia, other than having arguments or fights with Great Red?"

Ophis looked thoughtful for a moment, before giving her confident reply. "By staring at the swirling colors of the dimensional gap." The way she voiced it made it seem like it was an obvious fact, and it quickly drew amused smiles from both deities.

Hagoromo had assumed that much to be the case, whereas Yuno probably just found it funny in the way she delivered it as if it was supposed to be a deadpan joke.

Ophis didn't seem to understand what was wrong with what she said, or if anything was supposed to be wrong for that matter, so she just stared blankly at the white haired young man, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, there you have it." Hagoromo pointed out in a manner that amused his wife even further, to the point where she had to bury her face in his sleeve to hide her mirth.

Ophis, though, was still staring blankly at him, looking perhaps even more lost that before. "I... don't understand..." If not for her expression, then her tone clearly showed that she was hoping to receive further clarification on the matter.

His pleasant smile from before returning on his lips, Hagoromo began explaining in more detail to the girl. "Most of your existence was highlighted by continuous boredom and apathy with the occasional annoyance from that loud dragon. So much that it had actually become the default state of being for you."

Listening to that, Ophis looked like she was finally getting closer to understanding the nature of her issue.

A moment later, Hagoromo gave her the last push needed for her revelation. "Then you met us and spent an entire day in our company," he said. "And for the first time you experienced something at the polar opposite side of that spectrum. Enjoyment."

Ophis kept staring in silence at the white haired deity for a while longer, before her eyes visibly widened as it suddenly clicked in her mind.

"Oh..." the dark haired girl muttered in realization, feeling somewhat better now that she finally managed to understand the core of her issue. "Then all I need to do is have fun, and that should make me feel better?"

"Exactly." Hagoromo nodded at her words, a thin smile tugging at his lips.

An almost imperceptible twitch upturned her mouth, though it soon changed into a frown once she was faced with another question that she couldn't answer.

"How do I have fun?" Ophis asked, her tone uncharacteristically serious.

Yuno had to stifle a giggle in her husband's robe at that.

Hagoromo met the dark haired girl's frowning face with a patient smile. "How are you feeling right now, Ophis?"

The question prompted Ophis to become thoughtful for a while as she tried to closely asses her current mood.

It didn't take her too long to come to a conclusion. "Nice..." she muttered as she glanced back at the white haired deity.

Her eyes soon widened for a second time as the answer suddenly came to her like a revelation.

"Yep, that's right." Hagoromo smirked at the petite deity. "You just have to do what you enjoy most."

Staring blankly at him while taking in his words, Ophis mentally revised their entire discussion to make sure that she had properly connected all the dots and hadn't overlooked anything.

Moments later, she came to an abrupt halt from her walking as everything became clear to her. A faint smile soon tugged at her mouth in response. It felt really rewarding to reach a satisfying conclusion after all that effort.

Glancing back at the deity who had so patiently guided her to her answers, Ophis couldn't help the feeling of gratitude from showing on her face. She wasn't sure how her expression looked right now, but she was sure that it reflected at least some of the nice emotions that she was currently experiencing.

Hagoromo observed the girl's genuinely happy expression with an amused smile. "Turns out that you can smile after all." Her face might have not exactly been lit up in happiness as some liked to say, though it was still a significant achievement for her. "Congratulations, Ophis. You look happy now."

"Thank you..." Ophis muttered, her usual monotone disrupted by the gratitude showing even in her voice.

Hagoromo was definitely the most helpful deity she had ever met, that much was now certain to her. And while he indeed had some really eerie things about himself, he was an overall nice person.

"You're welcome." Hagoromo said with a light smile, before bringing a finger up for emphasis. "But we are not done yet."

The raven haired girl wondered what it could be, though without any success in figuring out an answer. "No?" she asked curiously, her eyes staring unblinkingly at him.

Hagoromo's lips widened into his trademark smirked he met the girl's blank stare. "You have to hear yourself say it, after all." He said, sounding increasingly amused. "So, what is it that you enjoy doing most?"

This time Ophis didn't have to think for an answer, as it just rolled off her tongue the moment she registered his question. "Spending time with you two."

Hagoromo nodded at her words. It was time to add the finishing touch now.

"In that case, I have a nice proposal for you, Ophis—"

He was unable to finish though, as a loud shriek suddenly pierced through the silence of the forest, easily drawing the attention of every sentient being on at least a mile radius.

Hagoromo smiled in amusement at the familiar voice that had just managed to scare most of the local fauna into fleeing the surrounding area.

"He's as lively as ever, isn't he?" Yuno remarked with a giggle as she looked up at her husband's amused expression.

"Yep," Hagoromo chuckled in response. "Like a murderous energizer bunny."

Yuno couldn't stop the mirth escaping her lips upon hearing that. She remembered about her old pink rabbit costume and imagined Hidan going on a bloodthirsty rampage while wearing that.

Getting that very same mental picture from his wife, Hagoromo shook his head in amusement at her vivid imagination. Though a short laughter also left his mouth when his curiosity on his zealous follower's activities got the better of him, as he was quickly met in his mind's eye with the image of the grey haired man wrestling a bear.

Both of them shared another laughter together as he sent back to his wife the mental image of a pink bunny costumed Hidan wrestling that same bear.

Once their moment of mirth came to an end, Yuno returned to her previous activity of hugging her husband's right arm, a content smile settling on her face.

Glancing to the side at Ophis, Hagoromo noted that she hadn't been too roused by the earlier outburst that had come from the depths of the forest.

"As I was saying, Ophis," Continuing from where he was interrupted, he quickly regained the raven haired girl's undivided attention. "Since you enjoy being with us, how about you come in visit more often? You are welcome to stay with us as much as you like."

Ophis considered the proposal for a few moments, looking intently at the young man, before giving her curt yet decisive answer. "I, accept."

Hagoromo smiled at the note of excitement present in the otherwise monotone voice of the petite girl. "That's wonderful," he said in a pleasant tone. "Now how about we go back to the shrine and have some tea?"

Yuno nodded happily at the proposal. "Sure, darling~" She also had other things in mind when it came to drinking tea with her beloved, though she was certain that he was already aware of her less ladylike ideas.

The way he just glanced at her with an indulgent smirk was a dead giveaway.

Ophis also seemed to agree with the suggestion. "Okay." Her regular monotone was back in use, though her overall expression looked less like a stone mask. Now it actually reflected some of her dainty childlike beauty.

Resuming their walk, they made their way back to the shrine in the ensuing silence. It didn't last for too long though, as Ophis seemed to remember something and spoke soon enough.

"Hagoromo."

The silver haired deity regarded the petite girl with an arched eyebrow. "Yes, Ophis?"

Ophis looked at him silently for a few moments, though her eyes already told of her intention in advance. "Thank you again..." Her voice was different from usual, softer, and it carried a genuine note of gratitude that showed how much the girl appreciated all the help he had offered her.

Hagoromo smiled pleasantly at the girl, before returning his gaze on the scenery in front of him. "Don't worry about it, Ophis. It has been my pleasure to help."

These words earned him a knowing look from his wife that he mentally returned through their bond a moment later.

Ophis stared at him for a while longer, as his previous smile had yet to fade completely from her mind's eye.

His welcoming smile was nice to look at. She liked how it made her feel, reminding her of her home.

Moments later she also looked away as her thoughts eventually drifted off to something else.

In the meanwhile, while not visible on his face as it was masked by his trademark smile, Hagoromo was slowly becoming more and more immersed in his thoughts.

Everything had gone as smooth as he had expected it to go, and all he had to do now was to slowly introduce Ophis to some of his plans pertaining to his little religion project. So that in time she would become more and more receptive to his ideas, until the point when he could finally have her become the Overseer.

It might take a while for that to happen, but even so, it wasn't something that wouldn't work in his favor by the end. After all, this stage was an ample one, and there were still many more actors who had yet to be assigned their own roles for the play.

* * *

Two male figures were having what looked like a serious conversation as they sat at a table in the corner of a modest and sparsely populated coffee house.

Both of them wore rather peculiar attires and one of them had hair of a somewhat unusual color, with it being crimson red.

The air surrounding the two men was steadily growing somber, something which easily hinted toward the nature of the matters that seemed to be discussed among them.

"So what you're saying is that the Dragon of Dragons has been missing from the dimensional gap for the past week?" the younger looking of the men spoke, a light frown setting on his handsome features.

"Yes," the older looking one replied, crossing his arms over his partially exposed chest. "From what I've heard, it seems that Heaven has drastically increased its surveillance over the dimensional gap."

The younger, red haired man sighed at this particular information. "Then I assume that whatever this is, it goes beyond Great Red simply deciding to leave on its own accord."

"Who knows?" the older man spoke, his violet eyes glinting with slight amusement beneath the golden bangs that framed his otherwise black hair. "It could be just that." Stroking his goatee in a thoughtful manner, he added. "Or perhaps something else might be at work here..."

The red haired man looked at his companion inquisitively. "Such as?" he prodded a moment later.

The dark haired man's demeanor became more serious as he spoke. "What if someone, or something forced the Apocalypse Dragon to leave the gap?"

The crimson haired man met his friend's words with a raised brow. "Isn't this a little too far-fetched, Azazel?" he replied skeptically. "Not to mention that there's also the Infinite One we should take into consideration when speaking about this. And as you surely know, these two aren't known for being on friendly terms with each other."

Despite receiving a fair amount of skepticism on his theory, Azazel didn't look like he would give up so easily. "No, I mean, think about it, Sirzechs." He seemed even more serious as he pressed on with his idea. "What if some extra-dimensional entity had entered the gap and for whatever reasons threw Great Red out?"

Sirzechs seemed to ponder his friend's words for a few moments, though his blue-green eyes never lost any of their previous skepticism. "You realize how improbable something like that sounds, right?" he questioned calmly. "We don't even have any recorded proof of the existence of other dimensions in the first place."

A look of frustration crossed Azazel's rough features at the crimson haired man's words. "Yes, but that doesn't mean they can't exist!" Pausing after his sharp retort to recompose himself, he continued with less heat in his voice. "I'm a scientist, right? I may not look like it, Sirzechs, but I know quite a lot about stuff like this."

Sirzechs gave another sigh, however he could not disagree with that last part. His friend definitely had a lot of expertise when it came to the scientific domain. He was so passionate about the subject that he could easily be called a research fanatic.

"Alright, Azazel—" the crimson haired man spoke in agreement, though was interrupted mid sentence by the arrival of the waitress with their orders.

He thanked the waitress with a kind smile, before mouthing her a silent apology for his companion's previous outburst as she turned around to leave.

Once the waitress was far away enough from their table, Sirzechs glanced back at Azazel and gave him a serious look. "Even if we are to go by your theory, we can't exactly assume anything about this entity's whereabouts." He said, before taking a sip from his coffee. "For all we know, it could have simply returned to where it had come from after doing whatever it did with Great Red."

Azazel nodded in agreement. "Of course," he also took a sip of his own coffee, before adding with a small smile. "But I still have a feeling that whatever we are looking for is still somewhere around here. Call it my scientist intuition."

Sirzechs stared at his friend for a few moments, taking notice of the smug smile tugging at the man's lips. "You know something more, don't you, Azazel?" he questioned, eyes slightly narrowing.

The dark haired man crossed his arms over his loosely tied, wine colored coat, and smirked. "As a matter of fact, yes, I do."

Taking another sip from his coffee, Sirzechs made a gesture with his hand, urging his friend to continue. "Elaborate, if you will?"

"Well, apparently, Ophis had also been sighted leaving the dimensional gap on multiple occasions during the past few days." Azazel revealed, his mood doing another one-eighty as he once again became visibly serious. "I don't know any details yet, but for the Infinite One to act in such an unusual way given the circumstances, well... it definitely raises some suspicions to me."

"I see..." Sirzechs pursed his lips, a frown marring his features once again. "But this still sounds incredibly far-fetched to me. We can't just assume all of this with as little information as we currently have. I'm sure that you know it as well."

"Yeah, I do." Azazel responded after a few moments of silence. "But I also know that depending on how much of my theory turns out to be true, this could actually become a very serious issue. Especially if we end up dealing with something hostile."

Sirzechs' frown deepened. "I'm aware of that, Azazel. I just hope that it doesn't actually come to be," he replied, fighting down the urge to let out a weary sigh. "Another war is the last thing we need..."

"I completely agree with you on that," Azazel spoke, a look of understanding in his eyes. "I'm all for solving whatever this turns out to be in a peaceful manner." His gaze suddenly hardened as he continued. "But if push truly comes to shove..." he trailed off, leaving the words hanging in the air, yet easy to be guessed from the somber expression that hung on his visage.

* * *

A little over a day has passed since his pivotal discussion with Ophis, and Hagoromo was currently taking a stroll through the garden behind the main building of the shrine.

By his side, the smiling figure of his wife was walking while holding onto his right arm, her cerise eyes alternating between admiring the vibrant surroundings bathed in the dim light of the evening sun and her husband's measured strides.

Sitting on the porch several feet away from them was Ophis, who was also gazing at the scenery, albeit with a neutral expression on her face that made it very hard for one to guess her current mood.

Hagoromo's eyes, however, were only absentmindedly sweeping over the many trees and flowers decorating the ground as he seemed to be more focused on his thoughts rather than the scenery.

During these past few days a number of key members of the supernatural world have begun to notice the disappearance of a certain dragon, a development which seemed to have stirred quite the amount of unrest amidst their higher chain of command.

The most notable of these supernatural groups were the Three Factions that consisted of the beings mentioned in the Bible, the so-called Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils.

From what he had seen of them so far, they seemed to be an amusing bunch that would definitely be given fitting roles as some of the most important pieces on his board.

Then there were also Ophis' frequent visits to the human world, which have also added even further to this general state of consternation.

Though unfortunately for him, no one had yet made the connection between the petite dragon deity and the small, uprising religion from a certain town in Japan, and neither had anyone realized the true intent behind said religion. So it seemed that it would take a little longer before he would go for a major move in the game.

But that was neither a hindrance, nor an issue, as it gave him plenty of time to play several other minor cards for an increased entertainment. It were those little things that often culminated into something grand when properly nurtured.

Such as what he intended to do next.

He had been contemplating visiting a certain deity of the Hindu pantheon for a while, and he supposed that right now would be a proper time to do just that. His omnipresence ensured that he could be anywhere he wished, without truly leaving Yuno's side, so he could pull the strings to his heart's content whenever he decided.

Glancing at his wife, Hagoromo easily drew her attention.

Yuno looked up at him with an affectionate smile. "Hmm?" she hummed curiously.

Hagoromo had his trademark smile playing on his lips as he spoke. "This evening I'm going to show you something interesting."

Yuno gave him a knowing look. "Making another move, are you?"

"Yep," Hagoromo smirked in a disconcerting fashion. "I have a role for Shiva that he won't be able to refuse."

"Not that he has any choice for that matter, right?" Yuno asked in amusement.

"Now, now, my dear, you know too well that they all have a choice in the end," Hagoromo pointed out amusedly. "It's just a matter of whether they can see it or not, you know?"

Yuno giggled in response. "How devious." Was all that she said in reply, before earning herself a chuckle from her husband.

Continuing their stroll in comfortable silence, the two deities stopped near the porch where Ophis was lounging idly while looking at a distant tree in the garden.

Following her impassive gaze, Hagoromo smirked when he realized what it was about. He didn't make any comment on it though, as it was not a matter requiring his attention for the time being.

Yuno seemed to take notice of that particular tree as well, however she merely sent it a prolonged stare for the time being.

Hagoromo glanced back at the raven haired girl. "You know, Ophis," His light voice quickly drew her attention.

"Yes?" she asked, a curious note entering her blank gaze.

"You might want to cut ties with that motley crew of yours," Hagoromo suggested. "They are obviously of no use to you anymore, and some of them are even planning to betray you once they get the chance."

Ophis' eyes slightly widened at the information. "I see..." she muttered, still processing his words. The reveal was admittedly surprising, though most likely because she had never considered the option. "Thank you for telling me this." Her gaze held the note of gratitude that her voice wasn't able to properly convey.

Hagoromo smiled thinly in response. "You are welcome." Turning around, he left the stoic girl to her own thoughts, and walked off in the opposite direction. After taking a few steps though, he suddenly vanished in thin air, as though he had never been there to begin with.

Surprisingly enough Yuno didn't follow him, choosing instead to remain standing next to the porch as her eyes quickly darted back to that particular tree from earlier.

Meanwhile, Ophis regarded the rose haired deity with a curious gaze as she wondered about what was going to happen next. She had an inkling about it, though she wasn't exactly certain of her intentions.

Yuno took measured steps until she reached the object of her interest; a completely normal tree, with the sole exception being the black furred cat perched on one of the thicker branches.

The feline's hazel eyes seemed to be watching the young woman's every move, and when she finally stopped below the shade of the tree, it suddenly jumped off the branch, nimbly landing on the ground.

Yuno silently observed how the black cat diligently licked its paws while sitting on the grass a couple feet away from her. "Aww~, aren't you a cute, little kitty?" she spoke sweetly.

The feline paused from its actions and meowed in response, before turning its head to stare at the spot where Hagoromo had disappeared only moments earlier, as though it could somehow understand what had actually transpired there.

Yuno took a couple more steps, allowing her taller frame to cast a looming shadow over the feline as she stared at it with a disconcertingly sweet smile. "You seem to be a very curious kitty, eh~?"

The cat simply swerved back its head, as if regarding at the young woman once more.

Yuno tilted her head to the side, giving her an eerie note to her demeanor. "But did you know about that one saying~?"

The cat let out another meow, brushing its left ear with a paw as it continued to look at the woman who was no longer smiling by now.

Crouching down at the feline's level, Yuno met its eyes with a narrowed stare. "About how curiosity killed the cat?" Her tone suddenly became cold and sharp as she said that.

The cat didn't seem to react in any manner to the rose haired woman's words, however, if one looked closely enough, they might have noticed how its dark fur was standing on its end.

"You should be careful, little kitty." Yuno brought her face closer to the feline, her eyes reflecting a terrifying darkness from mere inches away. "Because if you become too curious, that saying might become true, you know?" Tilting her head again, the gesture could only be described as menacing when accompanied by the expression present on her face. "Especially if you become curious about something that is forbidden."

Once she was done speaking, her visage suddenly reverted back to its former brightness, another angelic smile gracing her features, as if she hadn't just issued a subtle death threat only seconds ago.

"So, will you be a good little kitty~?" Yuno asked in the same sweet tone as before. "Or a bad kitty that would have to be punished~?"

The cat seemed to be rooted in its place in response to the young woman's monologue, though after a few seconds of unresponsiveness it regained its previous motor functions and bolted off amidst the foliage, quickly disappearing from sight.

Looking seemingly pleased at the result, Yuno turned around to glance at the raven haired girl sitting on the porch and waved cheerfully at her. A moment later, she began walking in her direction.

Ophis didn't know how to respond to that gesture, even more so after just witnessing what had transpired between the rose haired woman and that cat. As such, she decided on simply staring blankly at her as per usual, all the while contemplating about how unnerving Yuno could be whenever it came to matters related to her mate.

* * *

Reaching his destination, Hagoromo took a few moments to admire the cold and unforgiving scenery that welcomed his eyes.

The snowy peaks of the Himalayas made for quite the imposing landscape, which aptly reflected the dangerous beauty of nature.

The air was chilly and a snowstorm was currently sweeping all over the place, though neither of that seemed to be bothering him. The cold gusts of air whipping at his long hair actually felt refreshing to him.

His pupils suddenly faded to faint outlines in the white background of his eyes as he focused power to his dōjutsu.

Looking at a seemingly random point in the distance, Hagoromo easily discerned the rather curious sight visible some miles away to his left.

The lone figure of a young looking boy with black and green hair was sitting still upon a large rock on one of the neighboring tall peaks, as if frozen there by the icy climate.

The image alone was enough be considered peculiar in and of itself, however, the identity of said youth made it even more so to Hagoromo.

If one took a glimpse of the boy's visage, they would be able to tell his dour mood from his expression alone, though to those of a more supernatural persuasion other signs might hints at that as well.

Nevertheless, it was clear to Hagoromo how the boy was the reason why so many storms were ravaging the mountains in the vicinity.

What would have looked like a pleasant youthful face in other circumstances, was currently twisted in a snarl of sheer hatred and anger. Hagoromo could also tell the lingering sense of futility in his expression, though he couldn't yet tell from where exactly it originated.

Without any further ado, the white haired young man made his way to speak with this apparently upset deity, though he kept his speed slightly below that of sound, so as to not cause any unneeded surprise.

Once he got close enough to the youth's line of sight, he slowed down and hovered the rest of the distance at a somewhat languid pace, until finally descending on the same peak as the boy.

True to his expectations, as soon as the boy visually registered his presence, he didn't look very thrilled at his sudden arrival and quickly turned to regard him with the full extent of his ire.

"You..." the youth hissed, his voice low and his face a furious snarl. "You have no business here!"

Hagoromo wasn't the least fazed by this open display of hostility.

He knew that he arrived at a rather delicate time in regards to this deity's temper, though it was still a little over the top for him to be met with such animosity.

"Well, that lacked a bit on hospitality," Hagoromo remarked lightly.

However, this only served to further incense the youth, prompting him to vanish from his spot as the rock he was sitting on shattered from his sheer speed.

Hagoromo nimbly sidestepped the vicious jab aimed at his face, maintaining eye contact with the enraged deity more out of courtesy than anything else.

Dōjutsu or not, he could still pretty much fight with his eyes closed if he wanted. He might actually do it at some point, as it should be really entertaining.

The boy, on the other hand, seemed surprised at how his attack was avoided in such an effortless manner, having yet to even lower the arm he previously used to strike with.

"I understand that my timing wasn't the best—"

Hagoromo was interrupted by the green and black haired boy attempting to hit him with another fierce strike.

He dodged this attack with the same natural ease as before, angering his opponent even more with how nonchalant that made him seem.

"—But I'd like to have a more civil discussion with you."

Managing to finish his sentence, Hagoromo gracefully evaded another strike from the irate deity, this time a kick aimed at his torso.

The youth looked more and more frustrated with each blow that he failed to land on the silver haired intruder. "Who are you?!" His features were set in a scowl as he snarled. "I cannot foresee anything about you!"

Hagoromo gave a disarming smile in response.

The boy didn't seem to take the admittedly nice gesture for what it was, and instead made for another lunge toward the young man.

This time though, Hagoromo made no sign of intending to dodge and simply caught the enraged deity's fist in his left hand, holding it idly as the mountaintop behind him got obliterated by the force put behind the attack.

The black and green haired youth once more appeared to fall prey to a momentary shock, though he was quickly jostled out of it by the unpleasant sensation he felt enveloping his fist.

It was a sinister feeling that made his skin crawl in unease. And it seemed to come from that pitch black glove covering the young man's hand.

Not knowing what this was, the boy instinctively recoiled backwards, but wasn't able to get any further than a couple feet as he suddenly froze in midair.

He tried to struggle, yet all of his efforts appeared to be in vain as he couldn't get his body to move even an inch under the invisible force that seemed to be holding him in its unyielding grip.

Searching for any possible clues to his predicament, the youth looked at the person standing on the snow in front of him. Though as soon as their eyes met, shock completely robbed him of any further attempts at struggling as a single word managed to leave his mouth in barely a whisper.

"Saṃsāra..."

Hagoromo smiled knowingly at the shocked boy. "To answer your question, Shiva." His soft voice completely belied the weight of his next words.

" _I Am."_

Shiva gave no response to that. He was just staring at those piercing eyes of rippling violet as if caught in a trance.

Seeing this, Hagoromo released the shocked deity from the force keeping him bound and lowered him back on the snow covered ground.

Once those two words managed to sink properly into Shiva's mind, he instinctively bowed his head in deference.

He uttered no apology, for he knew there was no need. He felt rueful, and that was enough. Those eyes would see it, and they would judge accordingly.

The fact that he wasn't punished yet was enough to make him realize that he had been forgiven for his previous hostilities.

After a few moments of silence, Shiva slowly raised his head and met those mystifying eyes for a second time.

They contained such power and authority that he couldn't help but stare in fascination at them.

Though their wielder himself...

Shiva could hardly find the words to describe him.

This being... incarnated change.

He _was_ the cycle.

And those _eyes_...

They held the crystallized aspects of it all. They reflected the cycle itself.

It made him and his brothers seem like cheap imitations in comparison. But oddly enough, this thought didn't seem to bring him any anger.

Only awe.

He guessed that it only made sense.

After all, he was standing before a being that transcended the natural barriers of the world.

He could not compare himself with something like this, and he was strangely content with it.

"The great, almighty Shiva."

The boy was soon brought out of his thoughts by Hagoromo's enchanting voice.

"The man whose avatars' each and every step in the mortal planes caused the realms of heaven to shake in fear at the daunting prospect of their doom."

Shiva was visibly taken by surprise upon hearing these honest words of praise and would have allowed a small smile to lighten his visage at the fond memories, if not for what came next.

"The great destroyer."

It was spoken in a soft voice, yet still clearly heard by him.

A deep frown overcame his features and he almost flinched at that last word.

Hagoromo noticed the reaction, though simply continued as if he hadn't.

"Part of the perpetual cycle that is Saṃsāra."

This made Shiva flinch. Twice. Both at the mentioning of the words 'cycle' and 'Saṃsāra'.

Hagoromo saw it clearly, though allowed a contemplative silence to settle for the time being.

Shiva couldn't help but think once more about how sick and tired he was of being decreed by Fate as the destroyer.

Hagoromo simply mused on what he had learnt about the Hindu god of destruction.

The powerlessness that many seemed to blame on fate was nothing new to him.

Yet there was something different in this case, which made the situation of this weary deity much more genuine.

This world actually had a Fate that dictated to some extent how things were supposed to go.

It wasn't exactly a sentient personification, though it still was a metaphysical force nonetheless. Much like gravity, if he were to make an analogy for the sake of example.

And Shiva was tangled rather tightly in its clutches.

But much like gravity itself, this force was nothing before his power.

A subtle smile twitched at the corners of Hagoromo's mouth when an idea formed in his mind.

Opening his mouth to speak again, his violet eyes sought the green and black haired boy's gaze as soon as he drew his attention.

"Would like to escape your fate, then?"

Shiva stared at the powerful deity in incomprehension, until the words finally clicked in his mind. His eyes soon widened noticeably at the proposal.

"What...?"

Hagoromo smiled in amusement at the boy's not so eloquent response, before reaching with his hand in front of him.

Shiva simply watched, still looking dazed from hearing the previous offer.

Thousands of thin, black threads coalesced around the unmoving form of the boy, all of them attached to various points of his body and seemingly without end.

Hagoromo lightly grasped one of these strands and held it for the youth to clearly see.

A moment later, the thread began to dissolve in his gloved hand, until nothing of it was left behind.

Shiva's eyes widened even further when he suddenly felt a slight liberation as a result of this gesture on Hagoromo's part.

It was a minute feeling, yet its meaning was more than clear.

Freedom.

"This is what I offer you. Unhindered liberation. Freedom from Fate itself."

The boy stared at Hagoromo with an unreadable expression on his face. "And what would you ask in return?" he asked with a note of wariness in his voice.

The offer, while incredible, still seemed almost too good to be true. And Shiva was no fool. He would gladly accept freedom, but not at the cost of enslaving himself to another master.

Hagoromo kept his pleasant smile as he retracted his hand, the other black threads of absolute fate clinging as tightly as before to the wary deity.

"What I ask of you is nothing much." Hagoromo's words were soft-spoken and they seemed to reduce some of Shiva's suspicion. "Only three things."

The boy listened, not finding anything to reproach yet.

"First of all, I simply wish you to show me that you are worth me denying Fate its claim," he revealed. "And everyone as well. Show them that my previous words have not been misplaced, and that you are indeed the mightiest of the Hindu pantheon."

Shiva was momentarily taken aback by the honesty present in Hagoromo's voice.

The first request was definitely reasonable, and it also seemed to strangely appeal to his own intentions. He had been contemplating that idea for a while, but he had never found the actual incentive to do it due to his resignation to Fate.

"Secondly, I wish you to pledge that you would never obstruct or hinder the growth of my little project in this world, that is, the Esoteric Faith."

That was a name that he hadn't heard of before. Though he supposed that it was only natural for such a being to set about creating a religion for themselves.

But anyway, he didn't mind this either. He hadn't been one to willingly seek followers for his own religion, since he hadn't exactly cared about such matters.

He had always been this powerful due to the aspect he embodied, and he wouldn't mind losing what little power he received from their faith should his followers renounce him.

He briefly wondered why would such a being even start a religion in the first place, since he was certain that he wasn't doing it for the power boost either. This thought intrigued him a little, but he filed away his curiosity for a later time.

"And the last one?" Shiva asked, sounding more curious than anything else, and perhaps even slightly eager to make his decision.

Hagoromo smiled wider when he noticed this. "Lastly, I would like you to heed my summons for only three times."

Shiva ponder everything for a brief while, before opening his mouth to give his reply. "I accept."

"Very well," Hagoromo said after a moment. "Then I will fulfill my end of the agreement right now."

Raising his left hand once again, his palm was outstretched and his fingers poised to cut akin to a blade.

White flickers sparked forth from his pitch black glove, covering it in a silvery haze, beneath which the symbol of the crescent moon shone a deep dark.

He made a languid slashing motion with his hand, cleanly severing all of the black threads attached to the hopeful looking youth as they began to quickly fade away.

Shiva immediately felt the results of Hagoromo's act as a sensation of unadulterated liberation washed over the entirety of his being.

It was an almost indescribable feeling, however Shiva didn't get to dwell upon it for too long, since his attention was quickly drawn back to Hagoromo when he noticed something rather odd happening to their surroundings.

Time seemed to have reached a standstill, and an overwhelming pressure suddenly blanketed the nearby area to the point where Shiva found himself barely standing.

When Shiva's gaze finally reached Hagoromo's visage, he noticed that he didn't seem to be affected by this incredible pressure, and that he was now glancing upward with an eerie smile on his face.

The boy's eyes quickly followed suit, though only to widen in shock at what they beheld.

A red miasma, shaped akin to innumerable thin strings, had come forth and completely covered the skies above them, with black specks mixed into it at random intervals.

Shiva stared at the ominous image for a little longer, before glancing back at Hagoromo once he came to a realization.

"Is that... Fate?" the boy breathed out in a barely audible voice.

Hagoromo didn't give any response as he continued to simply gaze at the portion of changed sky, his smile becoming even more disconcerting alongside the rest of his expression.

The flesh in the middle of his brow suddenly split open, revealing a sight that shocked Shiva to his very core.

A lone eye of deep crimson similar to the young man's two purple ones, yet incredibly different beyond the mere aesthetics of the nine tomoe adorning its concentric lines.

If those purple eyes held crystallized aspects of the cycle, then this sole crimson one held power over reality itself.

As Shiva continued to stare at this indescribable sight, he realized that he had been holding his breath for the entire time, having forgotten to even breathe in the presence of such formidable authority.

And the longer he stared, the more he realized that he could subconsciously understand what this eye conveyed.

Comprehension of the laws of the universe itself. Powers over the very laws that bind even the gods themselves.

Shiva felt himself instinctively kneel before the snow haired young man.

And how could he not? How could he not pay due reverence to that which seemed to govern over all of creation and dictate reality itself?

Shiva was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt the pressure weighing down on him suddenly vanish as the time also resumed its normal passage.

His gaze was quickly brought to the sky above when he noticed the image of that crimson eye manifest over the portion of the sky that was being covered by the red and black threads of Fate.

And then, he witnessed something that clearly cemented one thing in his mind.

The image of those innumerable threads instantly shattered like glass, vanishing into nothingness, and Shiva then knew with certainty before whom he had been standing this whole time.

God.

Not the deceased leader of the angels.

No...

A True God.

And then he bowed his head in reverence before Him, for it would have been an unfathomable offense to not acknowledge His divinity upon having witnessed such a display.

Giving one last dismissive glance at the dissolving fragments of the shattered representation of Fate, Hagoromo allowed the skin of his brow to knit itself closed as the projection of his Rinne Sharingan also faded away from the cloudless sky.

His visage held an unassuming expression, as if he hadn't just forced the metaphysical force known as Fate to instinctively reel back in fright after his previous display of power.

He supposed that despite lacking the proper sentience, even this Fate knew better than trying to oppose his will after he had dropped the metaphorical kid gloves.

Especially when such an opposition could have easily led to total anarchy.

Which was one of the main reasons for why it must have backed down, because, after all, sacrificing all of the sentient life in the universe would have made Fate's existence something moot.

Moments later, Hagoromo glanced at the kneeling Shiva before him and spoke in a rather disingenuous tone.

"Fate, eh?"

Shiva raised his head upon hearing Hagoromo's voice, and for a moment didn't know how to react. The frivolous smile on His face was a little too much for him, perhaps more so considering their circumstances.

Hagoromo's following words didn't exactly help the boy's situation either. "Yes, that's right." He said with a lightness that really didn't fit the general atmosphere. "But isn't it unfortunate that she turned out to be so shy?"

Shiva didn't now what to say in response to that, so he opted to remain silent instead. It was the safest bet anyway. He really didn't feel properly equipped to deal with this eerie side of God right now.

"I introduced myself so nicely to her, yet she still ran away." Hagoromo didn't seem to mind Shiva's silence. He simply continued talking, as if his words weren't even truly aimed at the reluctant boy kneeling before him. "I can't begin to imagine why she even acted like that."

Pausing for a moment to consider something, Hagoromo glanced back at the silent youth. "Do you think I scared her off somehow?" he asked with the same smile still in place, though not in a manner that hinted he might be waiting for an actual reply.

For a moment Shiva felt like nodding to that, though his better judgement quickly did its job and prevented him from doing that. He wasn't sure if this whole thing was supposed to be a joke, despite how it seemed, so he wasn't going to take any chances.

He'd just seen too much this evening, and God of all things was now starting to make him feel a little uncomfortable.

Fortunately for him though, Hagoromo seemed to be done toying around with him.

Shiva was momentarily surprised when Hagoromo extended his right hand to him.

It was a symbolic gesture on his part, and as soon as the boy realized that, he gladly accepted it.

"Anyway, that aside, it looks like we can wrap things up for the time being." Hagoromo said with a serenely amused expression. "Besides, I'm sure that you might need some time for yourself right now. Eventful day and all that."

Shiva felt himself subconsciously relax once he noticed Hagoromo's change in demeanor. If he were to be honest, anything else was better than that eerie smile from earlier that gave him the chills just from looking at it.

He knew that he couldn't hope to understand God, though he really hadn't expected to be shown such an unusually menacing side so soon after their meeting and without any warning whatsoever. So his shock was understandable and to be expected.

Taking the offered hand and helping himself back to his feet, Shiva actually found himself looking at the white haired God with a strange smile on his youthful features. "Thank you..." he said a moment later.

"You are welcome." Hagoromo replied amiably.

Shiva became silent after this, choosing to simply look at the deity who had liberated him from Fate itself.

"That being said, I'll be taking my leave now." Hagoromo said after a brief silence, opening a space-time rift behind himself.

"Of course," Shiva spoke in reply a moment later.

Before taking his leave, Hagoromo addressed the youthful deity one last time. "If you ever want to talk again, you can find me most of the time at my shrine in Kuō Town."

Shiva nodded earnestly in response. "I'll keep that in mind, Hagoromo."

Giving the boy one last pleasant smile, he turned around and stepped inside the bottomless void. As the portal closed in his wake, Hagoromo's lips widened into a smirk.

The irony of this encounter soon prompted him to begin chuckling to himself, leaving the nothingness surrounding him as the sole listener to his mirth.

After all, he had offered Shiva something that he would have eventually obtained by simple conjuncture, had he actually desired something else instead.

Because sooner or later, all those who associate themselves with him eventually become completely untangled from the strings of fate. Though that obviously happens simply because they become entangled in his own strings, of course.

But he was digressing.

So in the end, all that he had done for Shiva was just simply speed up this process through a direct intervention.

But he supposed that it still had to count for something, because he had after all offered Shiva what he had been desiring the most.

And that was what should actually matter, right?

* * *

Hagoromo absentmindedly noted that he returned earlier than he expected. The darkness of the night was just settling in as he took a stroll on the scarcely populated streets.

His meeting with Shiva had gone rather smoothly, and it had lasted much shorter than what he had expected. He must have made a really nice impression on the boy.

Letting out a small chuckle, he glanced idly at the faintly illuminated surroundings, simply admiring the nighttime scenery in silence.

The moonlight was leaving a much better impression than the street lamps, he quickly noted.

But that was no secret. Moonlight had its own unique charm. And street lamps just weren't good at being ominous.

Anyway, he supposed that he could pull one more string before calling it a day.

Ergo the reason why he was heading to a certain park.

Omnipresence was nice, and that was an undisputed fact, however it still didn't beat a good walk through the woods under the moonlight.

It might not be an exactly enthusiastic one, but it was still going to be pretty decent.

Especially since he had more than just a vague idea about what was supposed to happen there just about now. Foresight was a nice thing to have. Or maybe divination in his case?

Either way, it looked like he was going to have a masterful timing once again. It almost gave the impression that he had planned it all to the last detail, or something.

Ah, yes, details. It reminded him of a rather amusing saying.

The devil is in the details.

Metaphorically, yes, he could see how that might be true.

Literally, though? Well, it might be a little different in that case. Especially in this world.

But he was digressing again.

After a couple more minutes of strolling down the moonlit streets, he finally reached his destination.

Though as he entered the park, he idly wondered how much of an impact this intervention was going to have. He had a feeling that it wouldn't ripple enough to become something too notable, though he wouldn't mind being shown otherwise.

Surprises were always welcomed.

Although if nothing else, this should turn out to be amusing enough to be at least worth the time investment.

So either way, it was a win win outcome for him. The best kind, that is.

Stopping from his walk after another minute, Hagoromo took in the slightly intriguing scenery laid out before him. It looked somewhat familiar.

Numerous black feathers were scattered on the ground around a fountain, with some of them floating across its surface, giving a rather eerie appearance to the entire area.

Some feet away from the fountain there was another interesting sight. A plain looking teenage boy with a gaping wound in his abdomen was lying in a pool of his own blood, pretty much already on death's door.

Now for most, this gory image might have been one of dire urgency. Something that would have sparked an inner desire to help and whatnot.

For Hagoromo though, it was nothing new. He'd seen enough of these situations that he could actually estimate the time of death without even trying.

As such, the dying boy could easily wait for a bit longer.

Besides, he was more intrigued by those peculiar jet black feathers scattered all across the place, anyway.

Hagoromo picked up one of the lustrous feathers at his feet and examined it for a few moments. It was actually his first time seeing one of these in person.

Fallen angels, eh?

The only supernatural entities he had so far interacted with in this world were that oversized lizard with a loud mouth, Ophis, and Shiva.

So naturally, he was a bit intrigued by this.

He let go of the feather and watched idly how it fell back on the ground.

From what he knew so far about this world, the fallen angels looked like the most interesting of the three biblical factions to him.

They were no longer in the grace of heaven, yet they were neither completely scorned.

Their lives were also probably filled with longing and frustration, as most of them certainly wished to regain the favor of their maker.

Ergo, they should be the easiest to sway in his grand play.

But that aside, judging by how things seemed to be currently playing out, he could tell that he was going to meet some of these fallen angels soon enough.

Hmm...

Ah, yes.

The dying boy.

Putting aside his thoughts on the fallen angels for the time being, Hagoromo glanced back at the brown haired boy bleeding out on the pavement next to the fountain.

Unsurprisingly, he was still alive. Not that the boy dying would have been much of an issue.

Hagoromo took a moment to acknowledge the child's tenacity. Humans could be very persistent when desperately clinging to life.

Though this kid was persistent in more ways than one. Even on death's door and he was still mumbling something about wanting to fondle a pair of breasts. The obvious fixation he had with the female anatomy was truly something else.

One could only imagine what would happen if the boy instead focused all that energy somewhere else.

Hagoromo let out an amused chuckle. That was highly unlikely.

But still, the kid's obnoxious perverseness just gave him a nice idea.

Walking up to the dying boy, he looked down and spoke, his voice soft and charming. "Tell me, child, would you like to live for another day?"

It was only polite to ask this before attempting anything else.

While most people would indeed jump at being offered such a thing, who was to say that this kid would also do the same?

Assuming that would be foolish, right? After all, who was to say that there weren't people who preferred to die in these situations instead.

People should really consider the wishes of others more often, before making their selfish decisions.

Hagoromo's lips held a disingenuous smile as he continued to look at the dying child, awaiting a reply.

A weak, garbled sound was everything that he received after a few moments of deathly silence.

Well, he wasn't expecting the boy to be able to talk coherently in his state. Not that he needed to, anyway. The desperation in his eyes was more than enough for an answer.

Hagoromo's smirk widened to disconcerting proportions. This was going to be amusing, alright.

An sudden light emanating from the boy's pocket in an intense red momentarily drew his attention.

The bright glow died down considerably a couple moments later, before a piece of paper floated in the air from that same pocket.

Snatching it from midair, Hagoromo really didn't need to look any closer at the leaflet to know what it was.

His expression became even more ominous as he held the faintly glowing paper between two of his gloved fingers.

He clenched his hand into a fist a moment later, crushing the leaflet with impunity.

Tough luck for the devil team, it seemed. But he really didn't feel like letting them somehow spoil his fun. Or steal his credit for that matter. That wasn't nice either.

If they wanted the boy, they should have come in person to get him, not rely on fickle schemes. After all, scheming was not just for anyone. It took some real skill and finesse to employ it.

Not to mention that some of these devils actually seemed to believe that simply being good at chess somehow made them chess-masters.

There was a magnificent bastard that disagreed with that right here.

Though it was still pretty funny to see them try and fail, so there was that.

But anyway, even when putting that aside, the way things stood right now, he had arrived here first. And there was this other saying, right?

The early god gets the dying child.

Or something like that. He supposed that it would be different depending on the world.

Hmm...

Hagoromo opened his hand moments later, revealing the leaflet nowhere to be seen anymore in his gloved palm. Not even dust was left behind.

Smiling as forebodingly as earlier, he veered his attention back on the boy at his feet.

He looked pretty much dead now. Most likely had passed away at some point during that previous light-show.

Well, it was hardly an issue to him.

Bringing souls back from whatever afterlives existed in this world was not even a challenge to him. He didn't even have to knock first. Can you imagine that?

What kind of loose security did these domains have? Or maybe it was just his authority that superseded everything?

Eh, semantics.

Bringing his right hand over the boy's wound, his eyes turned a deep violet as the symbol of the sun shone brightly on his palm.

A green glow enveloped the corpse after only a moment as life quickly returned back to it.

The gaping wound on the boy's stomach mended itself alongside his shirt in an instant, and in mere seconds he looked as good as new. Even the bloodstains from his clothes were gone.

The only difference being the clear outline of two sizable lumps beneath his dress shirt and blazer.

Well, that, and the fact that his face now looked somewhere between androgynous and female.

So technically, it was more of a _her_ than a _him_ at this point. At least, physiology wise.

Hagoromo chuckled.

He might have offered to resurrect the boy, though he had never specified, nor agreed upon any details about the resurrection itself.

So there was no blame to put on him. It wasn't his fault.

It had all been fair game, as some would say.

Speaking of which, what was that about earlier? With the devil and the details?

Heh.

Letting out a silent chuckle, Hagoromo idly looked at the unconscious form of the teen sleeping at his feet.

A snap of his fingers later, and the former boy promptly disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Providing a complete service was another polite thing to do.

Snapping his fingers again, Hagoromo caused the drying puddle of blood at his feet to sizzle away.

He knew how hard it was to clean blood from pretty much anything, so he was being really thoughtful with this. After all, you never know who might stumble upon a pool of blood in a park and accidentally dirty themselves.

How nice of him, right?

Satisfied with his work, Hagoromo walked nonchalantly past the alleged murder scene and continued his nightly stroll through the park.

He briefly wondered how that kid would react once she woke up. He supposed that it would be something amusing.

But that aside, he was certain that he had just done the former boy a great service.

With how much the teen was obsessed with the female form and anatomy, Hagoromo was certain that the change he had made would be seen as positively thrilling.

Right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the original concepts and plots that I have introduced into this story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Saint Hidan**

 _[I'll kill you if you don't wake up... I'll cut you to pieces if you don't wake up...]_

Issei was quickly jolted awake at the familiar sound of his alarm clock, falling off his bed in a tumble of limbs and bedsheets as he tried to reach with a hand and turn off the noisy contraption.

Groggily raising himself from his splayed position on the floor, he turned off his alarm clock with one hand while rubbing the sleep off his eyes with the other.

As the haze of his previously interrupted slumber slowly but steadily dispersed, a number of weird yet rather vivid images flashed to the forefront of his mind, causing him to stare blankly at the wall in front of him for a few moments.

"Was it a nightmare...?" he muttered his thoughts out loud, though he seemed to be too absorbed in them to notice that his voice sounded more high pitched than usual.

The image of a dark haired girl dressed in skimpy clothes that left very little of her luscious body to imagination suddenly appeared in his thoughts, being quickly followed by an image of the same woman stabbing him in the stomach with what looked like a pink glowing spear.

Issei vigorously shook his head at the mental image and palmed his face in an attempt to get his wits back together.

"That must've definitely been a nightmare..." he muttered once again as his gaze darted down to his clothed stomach.

He gingerly patted himself just to make sure, and after a few seconds he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

There was no sign of any wound whatsoever, and he definitely didn't feel any kind of pain.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he felt pretty good. And not the usual nice feeling that he normally experienced after a fulfilling night of sleep.

He felt refreshed and full of energy. His entire body seemed to be brimming with vigor as if it was ready to run in a marathon.

He briefly wondered what could have caused him to feel like this, and after trying to recall more of the events of the previous day that felt like a blur to him, he was greeted by another vivid image in his mind.

This time it was no busty dark haired chick with raven wings on her back that seemed to be trying to kill him, but rather something that could have passed as an opposite to this.

A young man clothed in a white robe with strange designs on it was standing next to him, looking down at his lying form with a peculiar expression on his face.

For some reason this image seemed to be more vivid than the others, and he could tell that man's features in a surprisingly clear detail.

He looked incredibly handsome. It was a sight that would have easily put even that pretty blonde boy from his school to shame.

His hair was as pure as snow and curtained down his back with a few strands falling over his shoulders.

His eyes were as pale as the moonlight that was shining down from the night sky, and...

Wait...

Where did that thought come from?

Issei palmed his face again to get himself back together from the weird places where his mind has accidentally strayed to.

He idly noted that the skin of his hands felt oddly smooth on his face, and upon a closer look, he noticed that his fingers seemed somewhat more slender and less... boyish?

Any further thoughts on the topic were interrupted when his mind suddenly recalled another thing that must have belonged to his dream.

A melodious yet soft-spoken and enchanting voice.

 _...Tell me, child, would you like to live for another day?..._

He clearly remembered being asked that by the young man, though anything past this point was nothing but a blank haze to him.

Almost a minute passed before Issei concluded that his dream had been a pretty damn weird one.

First he dreamt of getting killed by his new girlfriend, and then he dreamt of a young man, who would have put all of the pretty boys on the planet to shame, asking him if he wanted to live...

His alarm clock setting must have definitely been at fault for this...

Speaking of which, Issei quickly glanced at the clock, and immediately noted that if he didn't start getting himself ready, he would end up being late for school. Again...

With that thought in mind, he quickly stood up from his bed and began removing the kinks of sleep from his joints.

However, after doing a few stretches, he quickly noticed that something felt pretty weird about his body.

His chest felt heavier and there seemed to be an unusual tightness that shouldn't have been there even with his buttoned up dress shirt.

Not to mention the strangeness of his blazer wrapping around his torso that made him feel slightly uncomfortable now that he focused more on the sensation.

His gaze quickly trailed down to his chest in inspection, and Issei briefly wondered if he was still dreaming.

There seemed to be two clearly distinct and rather sizable lumps visible on his chest beneath his clothes.

He rubbed his eyes a few times, before looking back at his chest.

He was greeted by the sight of the same round orbs.

He quickly pinched himself, but even that had no effect on what he was seeing.

Which meant that it had to be real...

An unpleasant feeling settled in his gut at that thought, and he quickly discarded his blazer and started unbuttoning his dress shirt.

As soon as he opened his white shirt, Issei's mind drew a sudden blank and his eyes widened at the sight of the two perky globs of flesh dangling on his chest.

He mechanically walked to the mirror on the other side of his room and stared blankly at his reflected image for the better part of a minute while his mind tried to comprehend what his eyes were seeing.

The part of his brain that would have definitely found this tantalizing sight pretty erotic was completely overshadowed by the panic that seemed to be slowly but surely engulfing his thinking.

He could feel a cold sweat forming on his back as he slowly brought his trembling hands to the hem of his trousers.

The churning feeling in his stomach increased tenfold as he unbuttoned his pants and allowed them to fall around his ankles.

His eyes were immediately greeted by the familiar sight of his blue boxers, though they seemed to be missing the familiar bulge that they always sported on their front.

A shaking hand tentatively cupped at his crotch, and Issei's panic surged tenfold when an unfamiliar sensation shot through him.

He quickly swallowed the knot that had formed in his throat and pulled his underwear down as his breath left his mouth in a short and rapid succession.

A look of pure horror settled on his face while his eyes stared wide in incomprehension at the smooth skin of his crotch.

Several minutes passed as Issei remained frozen in front of the mirror, staring with unfocused eyes at the clearly feminine image reflected on its surface, all the while trying to stop himself from hyperventilating.

He had no idea how something like this could have happened, and he neither knew how it could be even possible for it to happen.

For him to have turned into a girl overnight...

Several minutes passed by the time Issei felt himself recover from his previous panic attack. Or should he say herself?

No, he was still a male, dammit!

He stared for a while longer at his reflection in the mirror, this time taking in the image in much more detail than before.

His face alone could no longer properly tell his gender, though that thought was quickly discarded in favor of admiring the curves of his decidedly female body.

He absentmindedly noted that he looked pretty sexy in this female body. Sexier than most of the girls from the kendo club, actually.

Issei brushed the cold sweat off his palms on the dress shirt that still hanged loosely around his shoulders, before shakily bringing his hands to his chest to give a tentative squeeze.

The completely unfamiliar yet not unpleasant sensation that quickly shot through his body took him completely off guard, prompting a mix between a yelp and a moan to escape his mouth.

Moments later, he gave his breasts another squeeze, and then another, and another as he began to fondle himself, slowly increasing the pace as he felt more and more pleasurable jolts run across his spine.

It didn't take long until he actually began to feel really good as a result of his ministrations.

His dazed eyes never left the tantalizing image showing in the mirror as they seemed to almost feast upon the sight that they were allowed to see, and he slowly began to snake one of his hands down his slender stomach and to the juncture between his legs.

However, the instant his fingers brushed against the smooth and slightly moist spot that seemed to radiate an exquisite pleasure upon touch, he suddenly stopped as if stunned by some sudden realization.

A moment later, a horrified scream tore out of his mouth as the full weight of these recent developments finally sank properly in his mind.

"Is everything okay, Ise?"

The sound of rapid footsteps approaching the door from the stairs coupled with his mother's voice managed to quickly return Issei back to his senses.

Before speaking, however, he tried his best to make his voice sound less girly and closer to the pitch that he normally talked in.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine!" he replied a moment later as he dashed to the bed, throwing himself on it and hastily wrapping the ruffled bed sheet around his naked body. "Just had a bad dream, that't all!"

Though at this point he wondered how much of his dream had actually been one, as well as what had happened to him during that blank period present in his memory.

The sound of a turning knob accompanied by a slight creaking of a worn hinge drew Issei's attention to the slowly opening door of his room.

His mother had poked her head inside the room and was looking at his form wrapped in bedsheets with a mixture of worry and aggravation.

"Ise, you are going to be late for school if you don't get out of your bed now," she spoke in a deceptively calm tone that held a subtle edge to it.

Issei nodded weakly at her words, however, when he properly registered their meaning and the implications, he immediately blanched.

"Mom, I don't think that I'll be able to go to school today..." he spoke in a somewhat weary voice as the color further drained from his face at the thought of having to leave his house in his current state. "I'm not feeling too well..."

The older woman looked visibly worried upon hearing this and stepped inside the room to take a better glance at Issei.

He looked almost as white as the sheets wrapped around him...

* * *

The hints of a subtle frown marred the Archangel's beautiful visage as he skimmed through the papers laid out on his desk.

Several days had passed since he had updated the watchers' mission from merely observing the dimensional gap in greater detail to more factual espionage.

Ever since they had reported him sightings of the Infinite Dragon God leaving the dimensional gap on multiple occasions, Michael had realized that if he wished to learn more about this mystery, he would have to get as close to the source as possible.

Which he had promptly done, though had been rewarded with some rather unsettling information for his efforts.

That is, he had his worst case scenario assumption confirmed. That an external force had been somehow involved in the disappearance of Great Red.

A thought which brought him right back on the topic of the Infinite One.

After following Ophis on one of her trips to the human world a couple days ago, the watchers had uncovered some information that was both interesting and unsettling at the same time.

Michael slumped further in his chair as he recalled this particular revelation, as if the weight of his accumulated worries were having a physical effect on his body.

This outside force responsible to some degree with the Apocalypse Dragon's disappearance from the dimensional gap had actually chosen to take residence somewhere within the human world.

And not only that, but it had also somehow given birth to a cult that seemed to be taking roots quite fast in Japan. So fast that they even had a shrine at the outskirts of its incipient location, a certain town that was under devil jurisdiction.

That of the current Lucifer's little sister, no less...

A weary sigh escaped the Archangel's pursed lips as he thought about the complications that were bound to arise in the near future.

While it wasn't exactly unusual for this entity to begin a religion given its probable status as a deity in at least terms of power, the fact that it had chosen a zone of potential conflict as the location for starting its faith was what made the matter unsettling.

Had this entity actually chosen this location deliberately, or had he perhaps just chosen it at random?

Michael was leaning onto the latter as a response, simply because it seemed the most logical, given the circumstances.

Even if it had interacted with the Infinite One beforehand, it would have still been very unlikely for this third party to possess much knowledge on the state of affairs in the world right after its sudden arrival, so chances were that it had simply chosen the location where it had first arrived.

However, there was the other possibility that he at least had to hold in acknowledgement. That all of this had been done in a deliberate manner for some reasons that completely eluded Michael at the moment.

That was a rather ominous thought to consider.

Deciding to avoid thinking too much about a scenario that involved too many unknown variables, the golden haired man steered his gaze on a particular piece of paper residing on his desk.

It was the most recent report from the watchers. One that had provided him some useful information, though, at the same time, given rise to even more questions.

It seemed that all of Ophis' visits to the human world during these past few days have actually had as destination that shrine at the outskirts of Kuō Town. Most likely in order to maintain contact with the entity that had helped her in the matter related with the Apocalypse Dragon.

However, despite tracking the Infinite Dragon God to that shrine, none of the watchers had seemed to be able to actually step inside the shrine grounds, and had found themselves teleported to random locations upon each and every attempt.

Michael was certain that it must have been a rather odd thing to experience, however, he had an inkling about the reasoning behind it. One on whose effectiveness he had to agree.

It was a more roundabout way of telling him that if he wished to learn more, then he would have to stop relying on spies and be a little more diplomatic about the matter.

Still, the watchers had managed to circumvent this impediment to some extent by simply deciding to ask some of the people heading to the shrine for information.

This way, they had been able to obtain another valuable piece of information.

It was about the highest religious figure present at that shrine, a young man going by the name of Toneri.

As for the mysterious entity itself, they had unfortunately not been able to obtain any information beyond the fact that it was normally called 'The Sovereign', or simply 'Lord' or 'God' by its followers, since its name was considered to be too holy to be uttered by those not deemed worthy enough.

While this might have easily seemed like an obvious blasphemy to some of his brothers and sisters, Michael was more reasonable and better versed when it came to matters of this kind.

Though that didn't exempt him from feeling the signs of a forming headache as his thoughts drifted further toward the apparent nature of this entity's religion.

He quickly stopped that train of thought for the time being and brought his hands to gently massage his temples.

He truly hoped that these people wouldn't become a bunch of unreasonable fanatics like some of the cults that he had dealt with over the course of history...

He might be very understanding, but that didn't make him soft-hearted. He would take swift action, if this ever forced his hand.

Returning to his previous musings, the Archangel wondered if Ophis' frequent visits to the shrine were aimed at meeting this Toneri individual, in order to perhaps use him as a mediator in maintaining contact with the deity itself.

This was a rather plausible supposition, and he leant in favor of considering it to be the truth on this matter, as it would only be logical for such a high religious figure to be able to have at least some form of contact with their sovereign.

Though beyond this, Michael still felt himself quite deep within the dark, since the information he could work with at this time was still very scarce.

For one, he didn't exactly know the level of power this entity possessed, however, given the fact that it had been capable of driving Great Red away by most likely teaming up with Ophis herself, it meant that its power was at least on a similar level to his Father.

Which was a pretty unsettling thought, as such a powerful addition to the current state of affairs in the world could easily upset the balance with a simple misstep.

Secondly, he had a severe lack of knowledge on this entity's overall intentions, besides the obvious course of action taken by establishing a religion for itself.

And lastly, he also didn't know anything regarding its whereabouts.

Though he was aware that all of these issues could be solved to some degree if he chose the right course of action for his next move.

He understood why the watchers had been denied access from entering the shrine and he actually felt slightly contrite for trying to make use of such clandestine tactics when he could have instead chosen much more polite avenues.

After all, the situation had not been so dire as to require for direct espionage in order to obtain some simple knowledge...

Michael's lips formed another thin line as he thought about what his next move would be.

He had already decided on using a more diplomatic approach this time, which meant that he would have to send someone to the shrine in order to seek an audience with this Toneri person.

It was obvious that in the end it would have to be him to be the one to personally meet with this mysterious deity in order to obtain the answers that he was looking for. They were both the leader figures of their respective faiths, so it would only be proper for him to go in person if he wished to discuss matters of a more sensitive importance.

Though for that to be possible, right now he would have to think of choosing a delegate to obtain him an appointment in the first place.

It preferably had to be someone of at least an equal or similar standing to this Toneri figure, because that would show his seriousness on the matter of his intentions. So there were only a handful of candidates that he had to consider.

And with that in mind, the Archangel of Heaven began thinking about whom would be the one most suitable to pick and send for this task.

* * *

It has been a little over a day since Hagoromo had his first meeting with Shiva, and right now he was seated on the soft grass of his garden, idly musing about various things while tenderly caressing his wife's pink locks.

Yuno herself was using her husband's lap as a pillow, simply basking in his ministrations while admiring his thoughtful visage.

"Recalling your encounter with Shiva?" she voiced after noticing a faint smirk twitch on his lips.

Gazing away from the horizon, Hagoromo glanced down at his wife. "Mm-hmm." He sounded, nodding at her words.

"It was really fun watching you," Yuno said with a smile. "But that part at the end was a little unexpected."

Hagoromo smiled frivolously in return. "This is only the beginning, my dear."

Yuno giggled in response. "I never thought that I would get to see a world where fate is actually a metaphysical force," she remarked.

Hagoromo smirked as he remembered something. "Wait until we get to Zelretch's universe," he said in amusement. "Now that's a place where fate is a real piece of work."

Yuno giggled again. "You mean a bitch?" she asked wryly.

"Yep, that's pretty accurate," Hagoromo agreed with a chuckle, before sharing another moment of mirth with his wife.

By the time their laughter came to an end, a different yet familiar voice made itself known to the couple as it sounded in a recognizable monotone from their left.

"Fate...?"

Neither of the two seemed surprised at the sudden appearance of Ophis, as they had been expecting her for a while now, and had also sensed her arrival moments prior.

"Ah, Ophis." Hagoromo was the first to regard the raven haired girl as he spoke in greeting. "I take it that you are officially not associated with that Khaos Brigade anymore, right?"

Ophis simply nodded in response, before returning to her intent staring.

Yuno didn't acknowledge the petite girl's presence verbally, as she chose to cheerfully wave at her instead.

"To answer your question," Hagoromo said, motioning for the raven haired deity to take a seat on the grass. "Yuno and I were talking about my interaction from yesterday with the metaphysical force representing 'fate' in this world."

Ophis seated herself in front of him as a thoughtful look crossed her face. It was her first time contemplating on this subject.

Then again, she hadn't done much contemplating in the first place.

Before meeting the two peculiar deities, most of her thoughts used to revolve around her wish to regain the silence of her home and a certain annoying red lizard.

"What happened?" Ophis asked in slight curiosity after a brief silence.

"I met Shiva and helped him break free from fate's influence on his existence as a god of destruction." Hagoromo delivered his reply in a tone that completely belied the weight of his actions on that evening.

Ophis stared blankly at the white haired deity while processing his casual explanation.

It wasn't exactly surprising to her, given what she had witnessed when he had dealt with Great Red, though it was still something that managed to elicit some surprise from her.

Her eyes widened a little in response. "I see..." Ophis muttered.

"Come to think of it, weren't you in a situation similar to Shiva?" Yuno remarked airily as she glanced at the petite girl, drawing her attention. "You spent a really, really long time just gazing at the empty void of the gap, and pretty much missed on most of the things that one could experience while living." Sharing a knowing look with her husband, she added. "To me it looks like fate must have had a hand in this boredom of yours, at least to some degree."

Ophis slightly frowned at what she heard.

The idea that fate had played a role in her predicament somehow irked her, and she realized that it was most likely because she couldn't exactly refute this theory, regardless of how much she wanted to deny it.

If fate had truly been involved with her past circumstances to some degree, then several things seemed to make more sense to her now. Out of which the one that stood out the most to her was her seemingly being content with living in complete boredom and apathy.

Her frown deepened at that thought.

She felt pretty annoyed at the idea that such a fickle concept as fate had somehow been able to hold any influence over her, the Infinite Dragon God.

"I think that regardless of your past circumstances, Ophis, it doesn't really matter anymore," Hagoromo pointed out, bringing the frowning deity out of her musings. "What matters however, is that you aren't bound anymore, even if so slightly, to a fickle tyrant." He glanced at the petite girl, meeting her intent gaze. "I also experienced similar shackles in the past, so it has been a pleasant opportunity for me to free another from such a predicament.

Hagoromo could tell the knowing smile his wife was most likely giving him without even looking.

Ophis, on the other hand, was looking at him with a discernible note of gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you." she muttered in a quiet voice, thinking how nice it felt to have someone show such concern for her.

Meeting Hagoromo and Yuno had definitely been a good thing that happened to her after such perpetual misfortune.

A subtle hint of anger flashed on her childlike features at the thought of fate.

She realized that she really didn't like this metaphysical force, or whatever it was, as it most likely also had something to do with that annoying lizard invading her home in the first place.

That fact alone was enough to make Ophis despise Fate almost as she did Great Red himself.

Her musings were once more brought to an end by Hagoromo's soft, calming voice.

"How about some tea now?"

Yuno smiled happily at the proposal, but otherwise didn't move an inch from her husband's lap. "Sure~" she chimed, visibly enjoying the lap pillow she was being given the whole time.

Ophis also agreed a moment later, though with much less enthusiasm and in her usual monotone. "Okay."

Hagoromo smiled in amusement at their responses, before several roots sprouted from the ground in front of him, entwining themselves in an intricate fashion to form a small table.

An iron teakettle then appeared on the table, already filled with steaming liquid. It was soon followed by three white teacups accompanied by similarly colored saucers.

Grabbing the teakettle, he began pouring the freshly conjured tea in each of the cups, before handing one to his wife and one to Ophis.

* * *

Hidan stood at the base of a tall building, head tilted upwards as he looked at the towering structure in slight awe.

After spending the past two weeks trekking through the forests around the shrine, today he finally decided to give exploring the city beyond those forests a shot.

Wrestling bears had been pretty fun for him, though it had gotten somewhat old these past few days.

So he decided to add some diversity to his agenda before he'd finally get to do some real awesome stuff.

Like organizing his first inquisition.

His Lord has told him that it would take some time to properly set things for something like that, and that until then he would have to make do with what he could find.

Hidan didn't really understand why things had to be so complicated before he could get to kill some heretics, but he clearly understood that it was his Lord's will and that was enough for him.

After all he was his Lord's direct instrument of wrath, and he would do as his Lord wished of him without any question.

It didn't matter if things made sense to him or not.

The only thing that mattered was that he fulfilled God's will.

But either way, the past few days had been pretty exciting so far. In the time he spent wandering around the town he didn't get bored one bit.

Sure, he was missing doing his kick-ass acrobatic moves a little, but he knew that he couldn't do anything too flashy out in the open like he did in the forest, as it would go against his Lord's wishes.

He clearly remembered being told to try and keep a low profile for the time being, so that he wouldn't attract unneeded attention and ruin the surprise too early. So he had to try his best and be careful, because he didn't want to disappoint Him.

Not to mention that he also liked surprises. He was really looking forward to the big thing.

Hidan lowered his gaze from the tall building, his eyes catching sight of a digital clock displayed on one of the bright panels scattered around the place. "Man, it's already evening..." he whined, sounding rather dejected.

Despite being officially in his leisure time, so far he had spent his afternoon trying to be even more helpful to his Lord by trying to gather converts for His glorious faith.

He knew that it was pretty much his best buddy's job to do this kind of thing, but he wanted to help too, since he figured that it would only be a nice thing to do so.

Unfortunately for him, it turned out he wasn't as good as Toneri when it came to this stuff.

He wasn't able to find anyone interested so far...

Most people either looked weirdly at him moments after he opened his mouth to speak, or outright dismissed his attempts at recruiting them for the glorious cause by calling him a lunatic.

"Heretics..." Hidan muttered under his breath as he kicked a pebble, before deciding to walk down a random street to his left.

The time would eventually come, and then they would see the errors of their ways.

All of these heretics will beg for mercy and forgiveness, but they would receive none from him after they had so callously rejected their only chance at salvation!

His Lord might be merciful, but Hidan wouldn't stand idle when others tried to spit in the face of His kindness.

The might of the Inquisition would soon be upon this bunch of heretics!

Hidan kept walking the somewhat empty streets of a district he had yet to venture through, though he suddenly came to a realization once his nose picked up a rather delicious and inviting smell.

"Some food would be nice right now," Hidan spoke out loud, getting the attention of a passerby that sent him a funny glance, to which he might have acted with hostility had his gaze not been glued to the building he had just stopped in front of.

"Kay-ef-see?" he muttered in mild confusion while staring at the words showing on the bright display above the establishment. "What kind of weird name for a food is this?"

That question was however quickly lost to his newest object of much greater interest, that is, the delicious looking products lined up behind the glass several feet in front of him.

"I wonder how these taste like," Hidan spoke to himself once more as he continued to stare at the food put on display for potential customers.

The better part of a minute passed, before a rather disheartening realization dawned upon the grey haired man after spending that time frantically searching through the red tinted interior of his dark robe.

He had no money...

Or rather, he had forgotten to ask his Lord for money before leaving the shrine.

"Damn!" he snapped, drawing more attention to himself from some passers-by, though he seemed to be too lost in his inner predicament to notice it.

A dilemma which revolved around some way for him to possibly get the money to buy himself that deliciously looking food.

He was too far away from the shrine for him to arrive in time before his Lord and Lady retreated for the night, so that was not an option. Intruding on their sacred privacy would be an unforgivable sin.

He was also kind of lost at the moment, so he doubted he could even make it back in time before Toneri started his evening sermon. And he wouldn't dare interrupt his best friend from his holy duty for such a selfish reason.

That weird girl, Ophis, was also not around the shrine at this time, so that wasn't an option either. Besides, he really doubted that she had any money on her to begin with.

Hidan knew that there was an easy way for him to get money without much of a hassle, but he wouldn't lower himself to steal from anyone. He was a highly religious person after all, not a shameful thief.

A frustrated groan escaped his mouth as he resumed his walk, all of his previous thoughts about eating delicious food smashed to tiny bits by his unfortunate predicament.

As he continued to meander the town streets aimlessly in an attempt to get rid of his sullen mood, Hidan eventually found himself walking through a poorly illuminated alleyway.

Though before he could have wondered about where the heck he had ended up during his spiritless walk, his attention was brought to the right side of the alley when he heard some muffled noises and silent grunts coming from there.

Once his eyes zoned in to satisfy his idle curiosity, Hidan was met with a rather peculiar sight.

A dark haired man wearing some weird clothes that didn't appeal to Hidan's fashion sense was plowing rather vigorously into a much younger, brown haired woman, who was wearing some sort of uniform that also didn't ring any bells in his head.

Hidan stopped from his walk and stared at the lewd display for a few seconds while absentmindedly scratching his cheek with a finger.

Rough sex in a shady alleyway wasn't that much of an unusual sight for him. He'd seen enough weird shit in his life to not be fazed by such a display.

And besides, it really wasn't his business about where people decided to nail each other.

Sure, it was pretty tasteless to do something like this in public, but hey, at least they chose a somewhat hidden place instead of doing it on a main street.

So without any further particular care about the scene playing out before him, Hidan decided to walk past these two horny individuals and continue his brooding in silence.

However, the other man in the alleyway seemed to have noticed the new presence at some point. He was looking out the corner of his eyes at the grey haired individual who had stumbled on his private activity, though without stopping from enjoying the woman bent over in front of him as he held her arms tightly behind her back.

Opening his mouth to say something as Hidan passed by, he was beaten to the punch by the grey haired man himself who had also noticed that he was being stared at.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to interrupt your fun time or anything," Hidan spoke casually over his shoulder, stopping for a brief moment. "I'm just passing by, so yeah, don't mind me."

The older man gave him a weird look but didn't say anything in response as he kept going at his current activity, but Hidan didn't seem to care at all and simply shrugged.

Though as he was about to resume his walk, his idle looking around managed to get him a better glimpse at the young woman's face.

She had a kind of painful expression on her face as she silently sobbed through her makeshift gag, and she seemed to intensify her whimpering and struggling the moment she noticed his gaze.

Hidan paused again to scratch his head as a confused expression settled on his face.

He briefly wondered what was the deal with these two, because as things looked from his perspective they seemed to be into some pretty kinky stuff.

Some moments of intense thinking later, and he recalled that people from this world usually described a situation like this as being a 'rape play' or something.

Hidan merely shrugged at that thought.

It wasn't his job to judge other people's sexual fetishes, so... whatever floated their boats, he guessed. He didn't particularly care about it, either way.

Turning around and ready to walk his merry way out of the dank alleyway, Hidan was quickly interrupted for a second time when the young woman began thrashing wildly against the dark haired man's grip on her.

"Sit still, you fucking bitch!" the older man snapped angrily as he backhanded the girl, causing her to sob and whimper even more. "And you!" he continued, his attention shifting on the grey haired individual staring in their direction. "Why the fuck are you still gawking like a retard? Didn't you say that you were going somewhere?"

Hidan didn't seem to register the part where he was just called a retard, as he was much more busy dealing with the sudden realization that he reached after observing the scene playing out in front of him.

A proudly spoken "Aha!" accompanied his revelation as he slammed his fist on his palm enthusiastically.

This actually caused the middle aged man to momentarily pause from his activity as he gave Hidan a dubious look, though he quickly went back at it after realizing that it might be better to ignore the weird man until he left.

Unfortunately for him though, Hidan didn't look like he had any intention of leaving so soon anymore.

Glancing back at the duo, Hidan spoke with a knowing smirk. "Looks like I caught your two engaging in some really sinful activities." The playfulness in his voice did very little to hide the subtle menacing undertones.

The middle aged man seemed to ignore him at this point, whereas the girl was unable to reply anything coherent due to her gag.

Hidan didn't seem to mind it though, and just continued with his monologue. "Forcing yourself like that on a woman is a pretty big sin." His attention shifted on the desperate looking girl. "And you, woman, aren't innocent either." He gave a dramatic shake of his head. "Giving up like this and not fighting back with all you got is also a sinful thing to do."

The older man didn't seem to acknowledge any of that babble and just increased the pace of his thrusting into the whimpering girl.

"But even so, there is still hope for you two." Hidan's added after a short pause, his voice suddenly taking a much more serious note. "The Lord is merciful and understanding to those who acknowledge his glory. Devote yourselves to Him right now, and all your sins will be forgiven." His mouth formed into a bloodthirsty smile. "Refuse, and you will be punished as heretics who denied the grace of God."

Finishing his rather foreboding speech, Hidan looked expectantly at the two people, awaiting their response.

"Listen here... you religious nutcase..." the middle aged man snarled between his grunts of exertion, not even bothering to spare Hidan a glance. "I'm not interested in any of your weird religious crap, so stop bothering me, because you're beginning to get on my nerves."

and get the fuck out of here, before you really manage to piss me off!"

Saying that, the man returned all of his attention back on his current activity, leaving a miffed Hidan to look at him in disbelief. "Whaat? Hey, you. Did you just actually say 'weird'?" he asked a moment later.

His question earned him even more hostility. "Yes, I did!" the man snapped irately. "Now get the hell out of here, before you really manage to piss me off!"

Hidan began laughing maniacally in response to that. "Heh... Heheheheh... Gahahahahah! Oh, man! You're seriously calling the Way of God 'weird', aren't you!?" He made a dramatic gesture with his hands. "That's a very great sin, I'm afraid! Can't be forgiven," His voice suddenly took on a chilling note that emphasized his next words. "No matter what."

Seeing how the middle aged man was ignoring him completely by now, Hidan's demeanor changed in the blink of an eye as he glanced at the young girl. "And what about you, woman?" he asked coldly. "Do you think the same as him?"

The girl frantically shook her head, visibly terrified by the grey haired man's menacing bearing.

She didn't get to do anything else though, as a shocked yelp suddenly left her mouth when the aged man grunted loudly and thrusted much deeper inside of her.

This caused her to squirm in the man's grip even more as fresh tears fell from her eyes when the man's seed mixed with traces of her blood began leaking out of her once he pulled out.

Finished with his business, the black haired man whispered something into the girl's ear that gave rise to a terrified look on her face, before releasing her and watching smugly how she fell on the concrete like a broken doll.

Zipping back his pants, the man turned around a moment later and walked away whistling with his hands in his pockets.

Hidan approached the sobbing girl with a twisted smirk on his face. "I am a highly religious man, you know?" he said, leaning closer to whisper directly in her ear. "There's no way I could ignore the pain and suffering of those who follow The Lord."

The robed man's words sounded incredibly tempting to the weeping girl, and the part of her that desired revenge for the humiliation that she had been out through quickly made her nod in acceptance to the offer.

Hidan grinned sadistically at the girl's answer, reaching with his hand inside his robe a moment later as another round of deranged laughter left his mouth.

The insane laughter quickly drew back the aged man's attention, causing him to stop walking as he turned around to look in a mixture of confusion and anger. Though the comment he was about to make died in his throat the moment he took notice of the robed man's menacing expression and the metallic rod he was holding in one hand.

"My Lord... Please watch..." Hidan said with fervor, extending the metal rod in his hand with a deft motion of his wrist. "As I punish this heretic in a mere instant."

Discarding his robe to not get it stained, Hidan exposed his toned figure wrapped in white bandages around his waist, right above his grey colored pants.

The dark haired man took a step back in fear when he saw the unhinged man get closer to him. "S-Stay away, you crazy freak!" he shouted to no result, before turning around and trying to run for his life.

However, less than a few steps away he felt a sting on his face and promptly fell on the concrete when the grey haired man suddenly landed a few feet in front of him.

Shakily bringing a hand to his cheek, he noticed that he was bleeding. His eyes quickly went to the deranged man's weapon and noticed the blood dripping from its sharp tip.

Unable to get back up, the aged man looked like he was paralyzed in fear before the looming figure of Hidan.

The brown haired girl was looking at the unfolding scene with widened eyes after just witnessing the topless man do an impossible leap even for a talented acrobat, before twisting in midair to land a hit on the other man as he made his swift landing.

"Now, you unbeliever!" Hidan said in a chilling tone, before raising the sharp end of his spear to his mouth. "It's time to diiie!"

Both the aged man and the teenage girl watched in muted shock from their positions on the ground as Hidan licked the blood off his weapon, before grasping the silver amulet around his neck while briefly gazing at the sky and uttering in reverence.

" _O_ _'_ _Beloved Almighty, may this wretched soul be purified_ _!"_

And then, before their widened eyes, the grey haired man changed into something that terrified them even further.

His skin became pitch black and his body gained white highlights where his bones were located, giving him the overall image of a living skeleton.

Looking at the terrified man with a crazed smile, Hidan brought down his extensible spear and stabbed his right abdomen with it as a blissful expression flashed across his face.

The middle aged man screamed in agony a moment later, clutching his right side as blood stained his shirt in the same place where the grey haired man had stabbed himself.

"Hurts good, doesn't it?" Hidan asked with a twisted smile as he slowly pulled the spear out of his body, taking the time to savor the exquisite feeling of this shared pain as a small trickle of blood dribbled down to the bandages wrapped around his waist. "Hitting a non-vital spot leaves time for more enjoyment," Moving his weapon a few inches higher and to the left, he added sinisterly. "But you don't deserve a full ritual, so we'll have to cut this short for you."

The frightened man's eyes widened in panic when he noticed where the insane lunatic aimed his weapon next, though he wasn't able to even raise himself from the ground as he fell back face first the moment Hidan impaled himself through his heart.

A dribble of blood fell from Hidan's lips. "Ahh, it feels so good!" he moaned in ecstasy as the sensation of the man's death radiated through his being. "This... is the best..." His voice almost wavered in delight. "The last moments of a heretic's life, before they are judged... Ahh, so wonderful!"

Sinking to his knees, he brought his hands together and silently prayed to his Lord to conclude the ritual.

During this time, the brown haired girl watched the unfolding scene in silent horror as she tried to comprehend what her eyes were showing her.

So far she hadn't been able to. Or at least not fully.

The only thing that she managed to come to terms with was the fact that her chances of living to see the next day were probably higher after accepting this unhinged man's offer than they would have been otherwise.

The teenage girl was snapped out of her stupor when she heard a male voice suddenly address her.

"Hey, woman, you there?" Hidan asked in a somewhat impatient tone after walking up to the stunned girl.

The girl looked up and was immediately met with the bare chested figure of the grey haired man, who seemed to have returned to his regular appearance.

But more importantly than that, he seemed to be very much alive, despite the sharp metallic rod that was still sticking out of his chest right where his heart was located.

She stared in morbid fascination at the looming figure of the man, taking notice how the wound on his right abdomen had already healed in the time she had been lost in thought.

Noticing her staring, Hidan seemed confused for a few moments, before realizing that he forgot to take the retractable spear out of his chest.

Nonchalantly pulling out the spear with a squelching sound, he cleaned the remaining blood off the ceremonial tool with a flick of his wrist as the wound on his chest rapidly healed.

Picking his robe from the ground, he clothed himself and placed his retractable spear back inside one of its inner pockets.

Glancing back at the silent girl, Hidan addressed her once again. "Hey, listen here. I have a question." He said in a lighter tone as his initial playfulness returned. "Also do you have a name, or do I keep calling you 'woman'?"

He didn't mind it, but he remembered how his best buddy kept saying how it was polite to ask this kind of stuff, so...

The teenage girl looked baffled as she watched the robed man trail off and start talking to himself for the better part of the next minute, before finally remembering that she was supposed to say something.

"I-It's Mai. T-Tachibana Mai," she stuttered.

Hearing this quickly brought Hidan back from the curious argument that he seemed to be having with himself. "Neat." The way he replied coupled with his smirk made him sound like a typical delinquent to the girl. "By the way, my name's Hidan." He pointed at himself with a thumb.

"Nice to meet you, I guess..." Mai mumbled a response as she used the back of her hands to wipe the half dried tears off her face.

"Uh-huh." Hidan's previous impatience seemed to return. "Now that the introductions are over, I want you to answer me a question."

"Yes...?" Mai half stated, half asked, unsure of what the man would demand of her.

Hidan pointed over his shoulder at the corpse lying on the concrete several feet away from them, before asking casually. "Would it still count as stealing if I took this dead guy's money?"

Mai stared blankly at the grey haired man as she processed his words, before her mouth eventually opened, though no words came out as she had no idea how to respond to that.

He just brutally murdered a man not even five minutes earlier, yet he was being so nonchalant about everything.

Then the absurdity of that question itself...

These things coupled together seemed to be more than what her already shaken mind could handle at this point, and the girl felt her strength leaving her feet as though she was about to faint.

It might have been her rapist who had also threatened her with death if she ever spoke about the incident, though watching him get murdered by a stranger had still been a traumatic incident for her. Almost as traumatic as what she had experienced before that.

And even if a part of her likened what Hidan did to a kind of retribution, it was nonetheless still murder...

After spending roughly a minute staring expectantly at Mai, who looked like she was about to faint any time soon, Hidan seemed to realize that he wasn't going to get any response from her.

Giving a shrug, Hidan poked his chest a few times as a look of concentration momentarily flashed across his face.

A moment later he asked the same question out loud seemingly to no one, though this time he was met with an answer in the form of a disembodied scream that seemed to originate from somewhere inside himself.

Witnessing this chilling display proved to be the last straw for Mai, as she fainted a moment later, falling on the concrete with a silent thud.

Hidan looked confused at this for a moment, before giving another shrug as he walked up to the dead body behind him and crouched down to inspect it.

A minute of searching later, Hidan managed to find enough money in the dead man's pockets to buy himself a decent amount of that delicious stuff he saw earlier.

Walking back to the passed out woman, he crouched next to her and poked her face a few times. "Come on, wake up!" he snapped in irritation. "It's pretty damn late already, and I'm getting really hungry here."

Since this Mai woman had agreed to convert, Hidan figured that he should bring her back with him to the shrine. But he couldn't do that while she was lying unconsciously on the floor.

Well, he actually could, but if carried her there like a sack of potatoes, he would definitely attract some unwanted attention on the way...

Besides, he also kind of needed a guide to make sure that he could navigate the streets without getting lost and wasting time.

A couple minutes of poking later, Hidan was temped to try waking her up by stabbing her in the foot or something, however, fortunately for her, she began to slowly stir awake.

* * *

Slowly opening her forest green eyes, the first thing Mai noticed was the darkening sky above that signaled the arrival of the evening.

Her hazy mind briefly wondered if she had somehow fallen asleep outside, because she just had a really terrifying nightmare.

A nightmare in which she was violated by a man in a dark alleyway, only to be stumbled upon by a weird guy who basically coerced her to join some odd cult, with the promise that it would help her situation if she accepted.

Then she dreamt about how that unhinged cultist murdered her rapist through a strange ritual that looked way too surreal to her...

Mai blinked a few times to clear any remaining sleepiness from her eyes.

Moments later, she realized that she was lying on something uncomfortable and looked around herself in confusion.

She quickly noticed that she was in a... dark alleyway?

A really bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach when she realized that her memories of that nightmare seemed much too vivid for something that belonged to a dream.

Her eyes widened as she took notice of the male corpse lying face down in a pool of blood in the middle of the alleyway.

Slowly bringing a trembling hand down between her legs and touching herself, Mai felt something warm and sticky on her fingers.

She began to feel lightheaded and a wave of nausea hit her the moment she realized that everything in her nightmare had actually been real.

She looked like she would faint again, though she seemed to manage to get a hold of herself and keep her consciousness after hearing a familiar sounding voice casually address her.

"Just so you know, if you black out again, I'm gonna stab you back to your senses."

Shakily raising herself in a sitting position, Mai glanced to her left and noticed the robed figure of Hidan as he was leaning against the nearby wall. "Ehh?" she muttered in confusion, unable to respond to the man's nonchalant words in any other manner.

"Good. Now hurry up and make yourself decent, woman." Hidan said as he gazed back at the evening sky. "We are going to get me some food."

"We?" Mai parroted with a confused look.

"Yes, we." Hidan repeated with a pointed stare at the girl. "What? You dumb or something? Of course you're coming with me. You've agreed to convert, remember?" He told her as if stating the obvious. "I'm also kinda lost, so I need someone to help me find my way back through these streets."

Mai's eyes widened in realization as she remembered her decision from earlier. "Oh..." she muttered, before growing silent as she glanced down at herself in inspection.

Her school uniform was pretty ruffled and dirtied with dust in some places. It looked like she also lost her dark blue blazer at some point, though that wasn't what caught most of her attention.

Her white shirt was missing of its buttons and was left completely opened, partially exposing one of her breasts that wasn't covered by her white bra.

Mai felt her face heat up as she quickly fixed her bra and shirt, trying to restore as much of her modesty as she could, all the while glancing out the corner of her eye at the man reclining on the wall next to her.

She felt somewhat less embarrassed when she realized that he didn't seem to care about what she was doing, so she returned all of her attention to her current task.

Her skirt was also dirtied in several places, though she ignored that for the time being as she retrieved a napkin from one of her pockets.

She quickly wiped herself from the fluids that were still oozing out of her, feeling once more disgusted at the memories that briefly resurfaced in her mind while she cleaned herself up.

She might have not looked like it, but she felt dirty all over. Soiled everywhere where that man had touched her.

She felt like throwing up at the memories of what she had been out through in the past hour, but she managed to hold herself together and quickly threw away the used napkin as soon as she was done removing as much of that disgusting stuff from her body.

Glancing once more at herself, she noticed that she looked a little more presentable, and no longer like a rape victim.

Shaking her head vigorously to clear all of the unpleasant thoughts currently in her mind, Mai patted her clothes to remove from them whatever dust she could.

"You're taking too long, woman! Come on, already!" Hidan called out to the girl once more as he pushed himself away from the wall. "I really wanna have my food today, y'know?"

Mai nearly jumped out of her skin after being addressed so suddenly and forcefully. Recovering from her shock, she finished dusting herself off as fast as she could.

Then she looked around for the last article of her outfit, and rushed to pick it up as soon as she saw where it was lying on the ground.

As she ran there, she quickly noted with a grimace how unpleasant her damn and sticky panties felt touching her private part, though she convinced herself that it was still much better than wearing nothing to preserve her modesty beneath her skin.

Picking up her dark blue blazer, she thoroughly dusted it off, before putting it back on and buttoning it from top to bottom to completely hide what her damaged shirt left exposed.

"I-It's Mai..." the brown haired girl stuttered while looking at the ground once she was done fixing her clothes.

"Huh?" Hidan looked at her with a slightly befuddled expression.

"M-My name," Mai fought off her stutter as she glanced up at the grey haired man. "You said you wanted to know it, so I've told you earlier. It's Tachibana Mai." She was really glad that he didn't have the same intimidating bearing right now, as it helped her somewhat calm down from her shock.

Hidan's confusion vanished as he registered the girl's words, and a somewhat sheepish expression formed on his face instead. "Ehh, I kinda forgot about it, so..." he trailed off while scratching the back of his head. "My bad, I guess?"

Mai couldn't help but sigh at his response, though to her mild surprise she found herself giving him a small smile. "It's okay." She said, slightly shaking her head at his eccentric behavior.

Hidan smirked. "Neat." He said casually as he turned around and started walking. "Now come on, get moving." He added over his shoulder after taking several steps.

"Okay." Mai quickly agreed, following after him a moment later.

* * *

"Man, this KFC stuff is really good!" Hidan spoke after eating yet another piece of fried chicken from the large bucket on the table in front of him.

Despite eating a type of food that was commonly eaten using ones hands, he still lacked enough manners to avoid attracting the occasional glance in his direction from the nearby customers.

Mai frowned as she watched the grey haired man stuff his face with the fried food. "Yes, and it's also very unhealthy," she spoke in a much quieter voice than the boisterous one of her companion.

Hidan smirked at her words, dropping the bony remains of the latest piece of fried chicken that he just devoured. "Heh, I really doubt this chicken wing could kill me." Taking another piece from the bucket, he lazily waved it at the girl for emphasis. "I wouldn't die anyway."

Saying that, he went back to his ravenous eating.

Mai shook her head at the casual attitude he seemed to have towards mostly everything.

From what she saw so far, he only seemed to become serious when he spoke of the matters related to his religion. But even then, he would still come off as somewhat frivolous, unless he spoke about his god.

She still had no idea about whatever it was that she had gotten herself into, though she managed to come slightly more into terms with the recent events.

She was still incredibly shaken by her awful experience, but at least she felt somewhat more safe now that she was around Hidan.

She didn't really understand most of the things she had seen him do, though she no longer felt that much confusion about her situation.

But anyway, she truly doubted that a chicken wing could really succeed where a stab to the heart had failed...

"So... about this not dying thing…" Mai began, drawing Hidan's attention once more. "How can something like this be possible?" She leant closer to the man seated across from her and lowered her voice as she spoke the next part. "And how did you even manage to do what you did back there to that man? Was it some sort of black magic or voodoo ritual?"

Hidan gave the girl a blank look as he reached for another chicken wing. "Ehh? Isn't it obvious? It's because I'm immortal." He replied as if talking about the weather, before taking a bite from the crispy piece of food. "And I dunno what these black magic or voodoo thingies are, but what I did was to simply carry out the holy ritual of purging heretics for my Lord. I always use it to sacrifice those that defy His glorious teachings and will."

Silence settled over the duo for the next minute as Hidan continued to eat in a carefree manner, while Mai seemed to be trying to process his previous words.

Had she not witnessed it firsthand half an hour prior, she would have met his casual claim of immortality with incredulity and skepticism.

"I see..." Mai said, breaking the short silence. "But what I meant was how you were able to do it. Do you have some kind of power to be able to transform into that skeleton looking thing?"

"Yeah, that's right." Hidan replied after swallowing another mouthful of food. "It's the power God gifted to me. I can do some pretty neat stuff with it."

"So it's like magic then?" Mai asked, finding herself quite curious about the topic they were discussing.

Hidan blinked owlishly at the girl, before fixing her with a narrow-eyed look that made her feel a little uncomfortable under its intensity.

"I don't know what you mean by magic, but I'm sure it doesn't even come close to my Lord's divine power. He could destroy this world as easily as you popped a balloon."

A cold chill ran down Mai's spine and her eyes widened as she listened to Hidan speak.

It was the first time she was seeing him be so serious, and the intensity of his stare was enough to make her squirm in her seat.

She felt herself very small in comparison to the robed man seated across the table. She doubted that she could comprehend the extent of power that Hidan had just described to her, most likely having been a firsthand witness to it at some point.

"So he's really God then, huh?"

The words unconsciously escaped Mai's mouth as she was still deeply caught up in her previous thoughts.

Hidan once more blinked owlishly at the girl's remark. "Eh? Did you pay any attention to what I said so far?" Despite being much lighter than before, his tone still hard enough of an edge to quickly rouse the girl out of her daze. "He isn't just 'God' in your pitiful world. He is _The God_. You better not forget that, as it is by his glorious grace that you were given help."

Ending his speech on that note, Hidan gained a look of satisfaction as he resumed his eating. Giving praise to his Lord was something that always raised his spirits.

Mai, however, looked even more shocked after processing those words. "Wait..." she spoke slowly, as if trying to give herself more time to come to terms with all of this surreal information. "You mean there are other worlds besides this one?"

Hidan smirked at her question. "Heh, of course," he replied, sounding amused. "Where do you think we came from? Space?"

The grey haired man started laughing at his own joke, the boisterous sound of his mirth managing to draw the brief attention of several neighboring customers.

Mai, on the other hand, looked like she was having trouble keeping up with all of the revelations that the man was bringing her in such a short span.

A day ago, she was just a simple high school student; one of the many other tens of thousands of teenagers that lived a relatively normal life in her country.

Just another face in the crowd.

But today...

Today she was sitting at a table with an immortal extra-dimensional entity at the local KFC restaurant and watching as he casually devoured a family bucket.

That, and she was bound to join a cult/religion established by another extra-dimensional entity, who was apparently the supreme god in all existence...

So naturally, she once again felt very small while sitting in thoughtful silence on her plastic chair.

Moments later, she remembered something from Hidan's statement that she had almost overlooked in her previous shock.

"Wait, what did you mean by 'we'?" Mai asked in curiosity. "How many of you came to this world?"

Putting the remains of the last chicken wing back into the bucket, Hidan smirked knowingly at the shaken girl. "You'll probably find out when we get back to the shrine." He said while grabbing a napkin and wiping the grease from his hands.

Mai looked contemplative for a short while, before suddenly shaking her head clear of every thought, lest she ended up with a headache.

She idly noted that Hidan seemed to be taking extra care to properly clean himself after finishing his food.

Despite his overall lack of tact and blunt disposition, he seemed to have some manners after all. Or at least he knew how to behave in some situations.

Either way, he was a really peculiar individual, that was for sure.

"Man, that stuff was good!" Hidan said with a loud burp, once more uncaring of the attention he drew. "I guess it's still too early to go back to the shrine," he muttered after checking the clock displayed on a nearby panel. "Let's just get going for now. We'll see if we can find something nice to do while walking."

Hidan didn't wait for an answer and simply stood up from the table, before turning around and walking away.

Mai nodded numbly at his words. "Okay," she said as she quickly sat up and followed suit after the grey haired man.

Even if her parents weren't away on a business trip, she really doubted that she would have been able to return home before actually visiting this shrine that Hidan had repeatedly mentioned.

Although, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to find out what activities Hidan considered as being 'nice', given the things she had learnt about him so far.

However, she really didn't think she had much of a choice in this matter, so all she could do was hope that it wasn't something too over the top for her...

* * *

After wandering the streets for a while, the duo came to a sudden stop when something seemed to catch Hidan's attention as they passed by a house.

Mai sent a curious glance to the grey haired man when she noticed him start sniffing the air like he was a trained bloodhound, though Hidan seemed to be too caught up in what he was doing to notice her questioning stare.

"Smells like fun!" Hidan spoke excitedly after quickly recognizing the smell of blood lingering in the air.

Mai looked even more confused at his statement, though she didn't get to voice her thoughts, because Hidan soon addressed her once more. "I'm going to check out this place," he told the confused girl while pointing at a nearby house whose front door was slightly opened. "You can wait outside till I'm done."

Having said that, Hidan promptly turned around and began walking at a leisure pace toward that particular house.

Mai was quickly snapped out of her thoughts by her companion's words, and she quickly called out to him. "Hidan, wait!" she said a little louder than she intended, drawing the robed man's attention as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Ehh? What?" Hidan asked slightly confused, briefly stopping from his casual stroll, but without turning around to properly face the girl.

Mai looked like she was having some issues trying to properly word her own thoughts, though a prolonged stare from Hidan was enough to make her speak her mind.

"I... I don't want to be alone right now..." the girl spoke in a quiet voice as her face colored faintly in embarrassment. "I-I'm too scared."

Mai's blush became even more prominent under Hidan's intent gaze, though she didn't seem to care anymore about her embarrassment. She really didn't want to be left alone right now.

After staring at the brown haired girl for almost a minute, Hidan gave a nonchalant shrug as he said. "Okay, whatever. But it's not gonna be my fault if something nasty happens to you."

His rather ominous sounding words made Mai feel a little unnerved, though she quickly seemed to regain her wits and ran up to him.

Glancing back at the house in front of him, Hidan resumed his slow paced walk as his lips twitched into a smirk.

The girl had some courage in her after all.

It was a good quality to have, though in her case it didn't really make up for all the things she was lacking lacking.

She clearly wasn't fit for his Inquisition, but he was sure that she'd make a good addition to the Clergy.

Mai followed in suit after her companion, and the two of them soon reached the front door of the house.

Hidan fully opened the door while humming a jaunty tune and promptly entered the house without a care in the world, leaving Mai to wonder if the carefree man had any idea of what the word 'trespassing' meant.

Shaking her head in mild disbelief at the situation that she currently found herself in, the girl closed the door after stepping inside as well and followed after Hidan.

They quickly reached what appeared to be the living room of the house and took a moment to appreciate the somewhat cozy atmosphere of the dim-lit chamber.

However, for the brown haired girl, this appreciation ended in a rather unpleasant manner when her eyes settled upon what looked like the upside down crucified form of a young male on one of the walls.

Mai would have probably freaked out had she not already experienced something of a similar level to this, so instead, she merely took a step back and positioned herself behind the grey haired man while feeling mildly nauseous at the gory image and the scent of blood prevalent in the room.

Hidan, on the other hand, was grinning in a pretty disturbing manner as he stared in something akin to admiration at the crucified man on the wall, whose corpse was still dripping fresh blood on the large puddle on the floor beneath him.

Hidan let out an appreciative whistle as he continued to inspect the piece of fine art, "That's a really neat way to punish a sinner" he commented seemingly to himself, "Heh, it almost comes close to my own method."

Mai looked slightly confused at his words for a few moments, but she understood what he had meant as soon as she noticed the words written in the victim's blood that she had previously missed.

Though, any further thoughts that she might have had on the matter were quickly interrupted by a male voice that made itself known from the other side of the room.

"Ooh~, saying these honest words of praise to me~" the voice sounded in a rather delighted tone, "You truly know how to compliment someone, don't you~?"

Mai immediately turned her attention to the source of the voice and noticed that it had come from a silver haired young man dressed in clothes that resembled the attire of someone belonging to a religious organization.

After taking a better look at his face, she noticed that his red eyes were glinting in a manner that reminded her of Hidan, and that his expression was not very unlike one that would have also fit perfectly on her companion's face.

She quickly decided not to say anything for the time being and simply continued watching from her partially hidden position behind the grey haired man.

"Oh, hey!" Hidan greeted casually after he also turned to face the silver haired boy, "Did you do that?" he asked while pointing with a thumb at the wall with the man nailed on it.

The boy, who had been sitting on a couch the entire time, finally stood up and took several steps toward the two guests.

"Yep~" he quickly responded in the same cheerful manner, "My name is Freed Sellzen" he stopped to give a deep bow with his introduction, before starting to do a weird dance as he spoke further, "I am a young priest who is part of a certain exorcist organization! We kill shitty devils and get paid for it!"

Hidan grinned at the boy, "Man, that sounds pretty nice!" he spoke in enthusiasm, "I'm also a highly religious person, by the way" he added a moment later while pointing to himself, "Name's Hidan."

Freed seemed to become even happier after hearing that, if his face and tone were to be of any indication, "Hmm~ hmm~ I was expecting some shitty devils to show up, but you seem to be a fellow priest! Isn't this wonderful?" he exclaimed in excitement after stopping his dancing, "Maybe we can kill the shitty devils together? Yes, that would be awesome, right?" he seemed to realize something and paused abruptly, before adding with narrowed eyes, "Though I hope you're not with the church, because that would make things pretty rough between us. I might even have to kill you~! Hehe~!"

Hidan didn't seem to mind the implied death threat, and simply spoke with matching enthusiasm at the prospect of killing something.

He remembered being told about these devil guys by his Lord, but he didn't know anything at all beyond that. Not that he cared too much, since they were obviously heretics that only had two options from him. Convert and embrace the truth and glory of his Lord, or be purged for denying His grace.

"I'm not sure what church you're talking about, but I'm pretty certain it's not the one I belong to" Hidan replied after a few seconds of thinking, "I'm the Head Inquisitor of the glorious Esoteric Faith! The one true faith!"

Freed blinked in mild confusion at the grey haired man's words, "Eh? What's this Esoteric thing you're talking about? Never heard of it" he spoke while stroking his chin thoughtfully, "Is it another weird cult like that Scientology crap?"

A brief silence settled after the youthful priest finished speaking, as it seemed that Hidan had yet to fully process the boy's words.

Mai, on the other hand, seemed ready to step back in the case that her companion took offense to that priest's words, because she knew that the grey haired man could easily get triggered when it came to his religion.

Hidan's eyes narrowed dangerously when he finally realized what the boy-priest had implied with his earlier words, however, he was interrupted by an amused looking Freed before he could have given any retort.

"Chill, man, it was just a joke" the priest quickly placated, "You don't have to get to worked up over a little joke like this."

Most of Hidan's previous anger faded after hearing that, though his eyes still held a sharp glint to them, "Well, that was a shitty joke, then!" his voice also lacked its usual playful quality, "Normally, I would've at least stabbed you once for mocking my Lord and His religion, but since you're a pretty cool guy, I'll let it slide this once."

Freed's expression became somewhat apologetic in an attempt to defuse the grey haired man's remaining anger, "Sorry, sorry" he spoke in a matching tone, succeeding in calming down the irate looking man.

Freed made a mental note to never try joking about the man's religion again, as he really didn't want to get stabbed.

"So, what do you do as an Inquisitor?" the silver haired priest spoke after several moments of rather uncomfortable silence in an attempt to change the subject, "Because I really doubt you're the religious detective type."

Hidan looked thoughtful for a moment, before he replied with a wide grin, "I kill heretics."

Freed gave a grin of his own at the man's response, "Cool" he spoke, his tone much more lighthearted now that the atmosphere was no longer hostile, "It looks like we are pretty similar in our jobs."

"Yea" Hidan quickly agreed, before his wine colored eyes glinted in excitement as an idea came to him, "Hey, Freed, how about we have a little fight, before these devil guys decide to show up?"

Freed seemed to ponder the suggestion for a short while, before a wide grin split his face "Hmm... sure!" he agreed, sounding disturbingly excited, "I was curious to see how you'd hold yourself in a fight anyway, so yeah! Let's kick this party up a notch!"

The boy quickly reached with both hands inside his coat and drew what looked like a sword hilt and an ornate gun in his right and respectively left hands.

Hidan eyed the two items in curiosity, before he let out an impressed whistle when the sword suddenly flared to life in a white light that formed into its edge.

"Those are some neat looking weapons you got there, Freed!" the grey haired man remarked.

"I know right? This light sword is the best at cutting shitty devils open and slicing them into tiny pieces!" Freed exclaimed while brandishing his weapons, "And this fabulous looking gun is awesome at scoring deadly head-shots!"

"Sounds awesome" Hidan spoke, before he straightened out one of his hands as if grasping for something in front of him, "But check my own kickass weapon now!"

Both Freed and Mai watched in a mixture of curiosity and anticipation as a weapon began to form in the grey haired man's outstretched hand.

It was a three-bladed red tinted scythe that had a slightly translucent appearance to it.

The brown haired girl looked in silent awe at the weapon that Hidan had just manifested out of thin air as she wondered what else her companion could do.

Freed, on the other hand, gave an appreciative whistle as he inspected the deadly-looking scythe, "That's a really awesome looking weapon, man..." the teenage priest complimented with a discernible note of awe in his tone, "Ahh~ just thinking about how beautifully it would carve through some shitty devils is making me so excited~!"

"Hehe, thanks" Hidan replied, before suddenly lunging toward the young priest with his scythe raised and a wide grin on his face, "Now let's get this started!"

The grey haired man was quickly upon the silver haired boy, but his strike was timely intercepted by the light sword of the similarly grinning priest who had displayed great reflexes and reaction time when parrying.

A moment later, Hidan disengaged by leaping a few feet away, before he made another swift dash with his weapon poised to slash at the boy's torso.

Seeing how the two males had begun their fight on a pretty serious note, Mai quickly took a few steps back, until she reached the corner of the room behind her, where she propped herself against the wall and watched in amazement the fight unfolding before her eyes.

Freed parried another deft strike from the grey haired man, which had enough power behind it to send the boy skidding backwards a few feet, before he attempted to make a counterattack by slashing at an opening in Hidan's guard.

However, to his surprise, the robed man easily evaded Freed's attempt at skewering him by twisting his body in an impressive display of flexibility, and leapt over the silver haired priest with the intention of slashing him from behind.

Freed quickly span around on his feet to meet the incoming attack, and managed to parry the wild strike aimed at his back thanks to his sharp reflexes honed through the many battles that he had been through.

"Ahahaha, I really like your enthusiasm, Hidan!" the young priest exclaimed, sounding quite delighted as he struggled against the older man's overpowering strength, before he suddenly brought his other arm holding the gun up and pointed it at Hidan, "But do you like my gun?! Here, check it out~!"

Realizing that it wouldn't feel exactly pleasant for him to get hit by whatever came out of the boy's ornate contraption, Hidan tried to dodge by jumping back and once again twisting his body in midair while at the same time using his scythe to shield part of his body.

Freed tried to quickly adjust his aim and pulled the trigger, though the golden bullet that was fired out of his gun unfortunately didn't manage to hit its mark, despite almost grazing the grey haired man's attire.

Which was probably a great thing, since otherwise it would have hit a rather sensitive spot on Hidan's body due to both his weird positioning, as well as Freed's hasty aiming.

"Hey, where the fuck do you think you're aiming?!" Hidan yelled at the silver haired youth as soon as he landed back on his feet, "That was a really close one, you idiot!"

"Tee-hee~, whoops?" Freed voiced in a slightly sheepish tone, "I might have gotten a little too excited and it slightly affected my aim, hehe~" he waved his gun a few times for emphasis, before slipping back into his stance in preparation for the grey haired man's next attack.

Hidan was about to launch himself back into the fray to get some payback for the priest's haphazard attack, however, his attention was quickly drawn away elsewhere when he heard a faint gurgling sound followed by a thud come from behind him.

Wondering what that might have been, he curiously looked over his shoulder, only to end up staring in mild confusion at the sight of a collapsed Mai with what looked like a wound on her chest and a slowly growing puddle of blood accumulating on the floor beneath her.

Freed seemed to have noticed this as well, either from the previous sound or from the fact that his opponent was no longer paying any attention to him, though, as opposed to Hidan, it didn't take him long to realize what happened.

"Eh?!" Hidan sounded as he continued to stare at the unconscious girl and the puddle of blood spreading beneath her.

"Uh... whoops?" Freed offered with a slightly apologetic expression, though his attempt did very little to dissuade the look of outrage that soon made itself known on the grey haired man's visage.

"You trigger happy retard! Look what you've done!" Hidan shouted angrily while pointing with his scythe at the dead-looking girl on the floor, "Do you know how fucking long it took me to find someone willing to convert?!" the man continued, his ire only growing by the second, "I spent the entire day wandering through this town to find this girl, dammit!" he yelled out in a mixture of anger and frustration, before gouging out a piece of the wooden floor with his weapon, "Gah! She was my first convert, and you fucking shot her like a moron!"

Despite looking somewhat apologetic about the situation, Freed quickly became visibly offended at the grey haired man's words.

"Hey, hey, don't you think you're taking it a little too far blaming me for this?" the priest spoke while returning his gun back in its holster beneath his coat, but keeping his now turned off sword in his hand in the case that he was attacked by the irate Hidan, "I mean, you're the one who dodged, and she got shot because of that. So it means that it's your fault, not mine!" he reasoned.

Hearing that momentarily stopped Hidan from his tirade, and he became thoughtful for a few seconds as he seemed to consider the silver haired boy's words.

A few seconds later, and the previous anger instantly returned to the grey haired man's face, "What kind of stupid reasoning is that?! It can't be my fault for dodging! That shit would've hurt like a bitch where you aimed it at! It's your goddamn fault for shooting me in the first place, you retard!" Hidan retorted loudly.

Freed also started to look incensed after hearing that, "Hey, don't call me stupid! You're the idiot here for taking that woman with you when entering a random house in the middle of the night and complaining for what happened as a result of it!" he countered, his voice raising an octave, "It's your fault, you moron!"

Once more, Hidan looked thoughtful upon registering the boy's words as he remembered the short discussion that he'd had with Mai before they entered this house.

Several moments passed in relative silence, and the ire present on the grey haired man's face began to slowly drain away as he went over that conversation in his head.

When he finally spoke again, he seemed to be more miffed than angry.

"Hey, I fucking told her before entering that something nasty might happen to her if she followed me inside! So it can't be my fault if I had already warned her! I even told her that I won't be responsible if something happened to her!"

Freed felt the urge to facepalm as he listened to Hidan's explanation, though he only settled for an exasperate sigh, "Then it's her fault, you idiot..." he muttered, wondering if the grey haired man was messing with him or something.

Hidan looked offended once again as he heard that, "Hey, don't call me an idiot, you asshole!" he shot back, "I may be stupid, but you don't have to fucking rub it in every single time you get the chance!"

Freed blinked a few times after registering that, before realizing that Hidan wasn't messing with him and that he was really that stupid.

At least he was a very passionate man... that almost compensated for everything else that he seemed to lack.

"Alright, alright!" Freed conceded as he glanced in the direction of the collapsed girl for a second time.

After a couple moments of intent staring at the dead-looking girl, he seemed to notice something that made him look back at Hidan with a grin.

"Hey, man, look on the bright side" Freed spoke, "I don't think she dead... yet. That has to count for something, right?"

The grey haired man looked surprised for a moment as he registered the boy's words, "Huh? Really?" he asked as he also glanced at the unmoving Mai.

"Yeah, she's still breathing" Freed supplied, thought he didn't seem very sure, "I think..."

Realization quickly dawned on the silver haired priest's face as he seemed to have remembered something, "Ah! I know!" he exclaimed, hitting his palm with his fist.

Hidan's surprise at the fact that Mai still seemed to be breathing, albeit barely, quickly turned into slight confusion at the boy's sudden revelation, "Eh? What?" he asked curiously.

Freed grinned as he replied, "I know of a way to fix this, that's what!"

The grey haired man raised an eyebrow at that, "Really?"

Freed opened his mouth to say something, however, he was promptly interrupted by a horrified female scream that had suddenly come from the other side of the room.

Hidan glanced in that direction, and noticed the addition of a blonde haired girl dressed in similar looking clothes to those worn by Freed as she was staring in shock at the crucified man on the wall.

Freed's grin widened at the new presence, and he quickly addressed the older man once more, "Allow me to present you my assistant, Asia-chan~!" the boy spoke while indicating with one hand at the girl dressed as a nun, "She's the one who's going to fix this problem!" he turned to look at Asia for a moment, "By the way, Asia-chan, thank you for the adorable scream and perfect timing~" he spoke in a happy yet somewhat creepy voice, before glancing back at the grey haired man.

Despite Freed's rather confident words, Hidan looked somewhat skeptical at his claim, "Seriously?" he spoke.

"Seriously!" Freed replied with a confident grin.

Hidan seemed to believe the silver haired boy more, though he still raised a questioning eyebrow, "How?" he asked, before sending another glance in the shocked girl's direction, "Can she heal people or something?"

Freed's grin became even wider, "Precisely!" he chirped, before clapping his hands as he turned to face his assistant once more, "Now then, Asia-chan, please help this swell guy over there by healing up that girl before she actually dies."

The youthful priest's words managed to snap Asia out of her stupor, though she still looked incredibly distraught as she looked at her superior.

"F-Father Freed..." the nun began in a slightly trembling voice.

Freed gave her a cordial smile, though it seemed to only make her look even more anxious, "What is it, Asia-chan?" he asked curiously.

Asia glanced back at the crucified man for a moment, before looking back at the young priest's expectant visage, "T-That man..." she asked with another small waver in her quiet voice, "Did you... do that?"

Freed's eyes widened in realization at the girl's words,"Ah, yes, this is your first time seeing a corpse like this, isn't it, Asia-chan?" he spoke enthusiastically while indicating to the mutilated man with the hand that still held the light sword hilt in its grip, "Look carefully, because this is what happens to humans that have been bewitched by a devil. That man was a sinner who summoned devils, so I had to punish him" his voice took on a gleeful note as he continued, "It was the end of the road for him, so I cut him up nicely and nailed him on the wall~" his mouth twitched in another smile that seemed almost proud as he momentarily glanced back at his handiwork, "So, what do you think? I did a good job with it, didn't I?"

Asia actually looked disturbed upon hearing that, "N-No..." she muttered, as if she was trying to deny the scene that had been playing before her eyes up until now.

Freed cocked his head in slight confusion at the blonde nun's response, "Eh? What's wrong, Asia-chan? Don't you understand our job?" he questioned.

Asia had a conflicted expression on her face as she tried to make sense of the teenage priest's logic, "B-But... you've killed someone..." she argued, her voice becoming steadier, "You can't kill people just because they are entranced by a devil. It's wrong!"

Freed blinked a few times as he processed her words, before an angry look crossed his face, "Haaah?! Don't talk shi—" he began to retort, but was quickly interrupted by a sharp and rather impatient voice.

"Hey, can't you save this crap until after that woman is healed?!" Hidan barked angrily from the other side of the room.

Freed quickly turned around to regard the grey haired man, and most of his previous anger at the nun rapidly drained away as he remembered what he had been trying to do before getting sidetracked.

"Ah! Exactly!" the silver haired boy exclaimed, returning back to his jovial persona as he faced his assistant once more, "See, Asia-chan? You should focus on the important matters right now. That dying woman needs your help, so you better hurry up, okay?" he spoke in a chipper voice, "C'mon, Asia-chan! Go do your job~"

Hearing that managed to snap Asia out of her internal conflict, and she seemed to momentarily forget about the crucified man on the wall next to her when she took notice of the collapsed girl at the other end of the room, "O-Okay, Father Freed..." she complied, before quickly moving to the wounded girl's side and kneeling next to her as her hands gained a green glow around them.

"Good, good, Asia-chan~" Freed voiced happily as he watched the blonde girl quickly start healing the other, almost dead, female.

Several moments passed while Asia kept her glowing palms hovering over the brown haired girl's wound, before she suddenly gave a relieved sigh, "She will be okay..." she muttered mostly to herself as she continued her healing.

Freed grinned as his ears managed to pick up the nun's relieved words, "Wonderful, Asia-chan!" he spoke in praise, "You're the best~!"

A moment later, the silver haired boy shifted his attention back on the grey haired man, "See? I told you that I had the solution to this. You shouldn't have gotten so worked up over it. It's all good now. Right?"

Glancing away from the intriguing display that was Asia healing his first convert, Hidan returned his attention back on Freed, "Yeah... thanks for the help, man" he spoke in gratitude, "Your friend has a really neat ability."

Freed smirked, "You're welcome" he replied, before his expression broke into an excited grin as he seemed to remember something, "By the way, we didn't really get to finish our earlier spar, did we?"

Hidan quickly mirrored the boy's expression as he went to retrieve his scythe from the middle of the room where he had planted it earlier, "Hehe, I like where you're heading with that" he spoke as he leveled his weapon at the other male, "So, ready for round two?"

"Fuck yeah!" Freed shouted in reply as he activated his light sword, "Let's do it!"

"Awesome!" Hidan shouted back, before he darted toward the boy-priest with his weapon raised and a wild grin on his face.

Seeing the attack coming, Freed brought his light sword to parry the forceful swing, before quickly reaching with his other hand in his robe.

Realizing what was about to happen, Hidan prepared to disengage and reposition himself before the boy could shoot at him with that contraption again, however, to his surprise, Freed didn't draw his gun, but a similar looking hilt that quickly blazed to life in a white light.

Noticing the opening created by the grey haired man's sudden surprise, Freed exploited it and quickly twisted his left sword between the blades of the scythe, thus preventing Hidan from leaping back without leaving his weapon behind, and attempted to slash with his other sword at the man left side.

Hidan's response to this was to simply grin, before he jumped back seemingly without caring about his weapon which clattered on the floor at Freed's feet with a faint clang.

The boy grinned victoriously as he sped toward Hidan with his blades ready to slash at his torso, though his satisfaction quickly turned to slight confusion when he noticed that the man wasn't making any attempt to move out of the way, and was actually grinning even wider at him as he held one of his hands outstretched.

A faint swishing sound in the air coupled with that action on the grey haired man's part kicked Freed's instincts in high gear, prompting him to quickly duck, just in time as the man's triple bladed scythe came sailing through the air toward him.

The youth took a moment to stare at the few strands of silvery hair that slowly floated down in front of him as he was sitting crouched on the floor, before he blinked once and directed his gaze back at his opponent.

Hidan seemed to have also taken a short break from the fight as was looking at the younger male while keeping his scythe propped over his shoulder, "You're pretty good at this, Freed!" he spoke with a grin.

"You're not half bad either, Hidan!" Freed returned the compliment with a grin of his own as his eyes lingered for a little longer on the slightly translucent cord that seemed to link the man's weapon to his palm, "And that scythe of yours is really something! You almost got me by surprise there."

The cord linking Hidan's scythe quickly vanished now that he was momentarily on standby, and he let out a chuckle at the boy's words. He was really having fun fighting him.

Granted that he had been playing around for the most part during their fight to see what Freed could do, Hidan was pretty excited now that he had seen that the boy wasn't a pushover.

It meant that he was going to enjoy a pretty good fight. But before that...

"Say, man, what do you think about converting as well?" Hidan suddenly offered as his voice took on a more serious note, "You could join my Inquisition, and we would have a great time killing heretics together."

This proposal got the silver haired boy thoughtful for a few moments.

"Hmm... tell you what" Freed replied after pondering for a while, "Let's have a good fight first, and then I'll consider your offer."

Hidan grinned widely upon hearing the boy's words, and felt himself become even more thrilled at the prospect of the upcoming fight.

However, just as he brought his weapon from his shoulder in his grip and prepared to resume the fight, he was interrupted when a red colored glowing circle that looked far too complex for him to give a shit about trying to understand suddenly appeared in the middle of the room.

"Huh? Hey, Freed. The fuck is that?" Hidan quickly asked the younger male as he continued to stare at the strange looking symbol glowing on the floor, "And why the fuck is it interrupting our fun?!"

Despite Hidan's obvious anger at being interrupted from having a very thrilling fight, Freed didn't seem to mind this interruption too much, and actually had a somewhat maniacal glint in his eyes as he stared with a disturbing smile at the complex symbol rapidly forming in the middle of the room.

"Ohh~ It's the devils~! They're finally here!" the silver haired boy exclaimed delightfully, before glancing over his shoulder at the back of the room.

Asia seemed to have just finished healing the brown haired girl and was now looking at the forming magic circle as well, though she did so mostly out of curiosity.

"Quick, Asia-chan!" Freed spoke, drawing the blonde nun's attention, "If you're done healing that girl, go setup the barrier!"

The quiet girl merely nodded, before rushing out of the room to do as told, not wishing to earn the young priest's ire for a second time.

"Huh? Devils?" Hidan suddenly spoke after deciding that he had spent enough time looking at the weird symbol on the floor, "The fuck are they doing here?"

"Yep~" Freed replied without missing a beat, his enthusiasm not waning even one bit during this time, "They took the bait and are now coming here~!"

"Bait?" Hidan asked curiously, though he quickly remembered the boy-priest mentioning that he had been expecting some devils to arrive when they had met each other earlier, while at the same time realizing that he didn't really care about any more details on the subject, "Anyway, are we gonna continue our fight or gawk at that glowing shit the entire night?"

Freed smiled at the older man's words, "Don't be silly, Hidan~" he chided playfully, "Now we're going to cut some shitty devils. We can finish our fight after that."

Hidan seemed to ponder the boy's words for a few moments, "Eh...? Whatever..." he voiced with a shrug, "Though I hope they'll put up a good fight at least."

Freed actually giggled at that, making a sound that most would have considered to be creepy and disturbing on many levels, "They better do, 'cause otherwise I'll cut 'em up extra thin~! Hehe~" he spoke while waving his two light swords for emphasis.

At the back of the room, the now healed brown haired girl slowly stirred awake and opened her eyes groggily. She took a few moments to asses her immediate surroundings, before eventually standing up and looking around in confusion.

"Huh... what's going on?" Mai spoke as her eyes zoned in on the familiar sight that was Hidan's robed back, "What happened?"

The grey haired man turned around after hearing her voice and flashed her a carefree grin, "Oh, hey, Mai!" he greeted casually, "How ya doing?"

Mai blinked a few times, before opening her mouth to speak as she inspected herself, "Fine... I think" she replied, "But what happened?"

"Nothing much" Hidan revealed, "I was fighting this guy over here, and you accidentally got shot and almost died, but then came a girl who can heal people, so she helped you—"

Freed quickly interrupted the grey haired man from finishing his sentence when the intricate circle on the floor started spinning and glowing with slightly more intensity.

"Shh! It's coming!" the silver haired priest said in a whispering voice.

Hidan glanced away from the still confused Mai and looked back at the strange symbol, noticing that something seemed to be coming out of its center.

"Huh?" the grey haired man sounded in slight confusion as well, before his attention was drawn to Freed when he heard him speak.

"Come on, let's make a cool appearance" the boy suggested in a quiet but excited voice.

"What?" Hidan responded in a quiet voice as well.

Freed simply pointed at the corner of the room where the brown haired girl was standing, "You go in that shadowy corner and strike an ominous pose" he whispered, before pointing with his thumb over his shoulder, "And I'll go sit on that couch and look cool while staring at those candles."

"Seriously?" Hidan spoke, sounding almost incredulous.

By now, almost half of the person coming from the glowing circle could be visible, though they didn't seem to be aware about the two men's presences yet due to facing the other way.

Freed noticed that, as well as the fact that Hidan still looked slightly skeptical, so he urged him some more, "Come on, man, hurry up" he whispered while turning off his light swords and placing them back into his coat, before swiftly moving to the couch behind him.

Hidan shrugged, before muttering a barely audible "Fine, fine..." as he decided to follow the boy's weird request and also dismissed his weapon, before moving to the back of the room, where he started whispering something to Mai.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the original concepts and plots that I have introduced into this story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Of Membranes, and Feathers**

The glowing red circle on the floor of the apartment quickly faded away as the individual emerging out of it fully manifested into the room.

It was a rather young girl, possessing hazel eyes and white hair that was cut short at the back, with several loose bangs at the front hanging over her forehead and two longer bangs that went past her shoulders.

Her clothing resembled a school uniform consisting of a white long-sleeved, button-down shirt tailored to perfectly fit the girl's petite form and adorned with a black ribbon on the collar, a black button-down corset that clung tightly to her slender waist, a magenta skirt with white accents that covered only half of her thighs, and a pair of black knee-socks, as well as brown dress shoes.

Less than a few moments after her arrival, the girl seemed to notice that something was off about the room she had just teleported in, and her eyes quickly inspected her surroundings as she span around on her feet.

Facing the other side of the room, the white haired girl took notice of the gruesome sight visible on the wall next to her, and immediately realized what she was dealing with, as if aware on an almost instinctual level of the threat that it possessed to her.

Her eyes quickly darted to the middle of the room, and she almost wrinkled her nose at the sight of the white haired boy seated in front of a table with three lit candles atop of it.

"Exorcist..." she muttered in a tone that, despite being flat, held a noticeable hint of distaste to it.

Hearing that, the boy slowly craned his head to look at the girl, "Welcome, you shitty devil!" his voice was almost delighted, though his expression was rather disturbing, "I'm Freed Sellzen, the incredibly awesome priest who's going to cut you up real nicely and then exorcise you~! It might hurt a little at first, but it won't take long for you to feel so good that you'll cry~"

The white haired girl would have probably further expressed her distaste at the deranged priest, but she was interrupted by another male voice that made her look to the other side of the room.

"Eh? That's a devil? A little girl?"

The voice belonged to a grey haired young man wearing a dark robe, whom she had simply glossed over in her previous assessment of the room due to not finding either him or the brown haired girl standing beside him to be of any considerable importance in comparison to the exorcist present.

According to her senses, these two were just regular humans, though the male individual seemed to possess a rather abnormal life force which was much stronger than what a normal human's should be.

Perhaps he had some sort of sacred gear, or something else that explained this unusual particularity about him?

However, that thought was short lived, because it was quickly replaced by the mild irritation that had been brought to her by the man's previous remark, prompting her eyes to slightly narrow.

"Don't let yourself be fooled by her young appearance, Hidan" the young exorcist spoke as he turned to look at the grey haired man, "Even if she looks like a little girl, she's still a wicked creature that preys on the souls of humans."

The girl's eyes narrowed even further, and she looked away from the man named Hidan and back at the exorcist.

Hidan seemed to be oblivious to the white haired girl's ire, even though a good part of it was directed at him. "Seriously?" he asked while glancing at Freed in skepticism.

"Yep~" the white haired priest replied in a cheery voice as he raised himself from the couch.

A moment later, Hidan glanced back at the supposed devil girl and stared at her for a short while in what looked like scrutinization.

Meanwhile, the girl didn't seem to have gotten over the perceived insults from earlier, which only added more fuel to the fire when coupled with the grey haired man's intent observation.

" _Little..._?" she voiced in a quiet but cold tone as her eyes narrowed dangerously at the robed man.

Freed looked like he was happy upon noticing the white haired girl's reaction, "See? She's already showing her true colors~" he spoke in a singsong voice as a wide smile stretched his features.

Hidan stopped staring at the girl and nodded at the boy's words, "Yeah" he replied with certainty, "There's no way a normal, little girl could put out this much killing intent."

The grey haired man would have also laughed after finishing his comment, if not for the piece of furniture—a rather sizable dresser—that he had noticed sailing through the air toward him out the corner of his eye.

He quickly sidestepped the incoming projectile, which smashed rather forcefully against the wall behind him, leaving a visible indentation in it, right next to a startled Mai, who looked like she was seriously contemplating storming out of the room for her own safety.

Hidan let out a mildly impressed whistle as he glanced back at the white haired girl, "Whoa! You sure have some strength in that tiny body of yours!" he spoke out loud in a voice that could pass as being somewhat praising.

The girl didn't seem to take it as being such, however.

" _Tiny...?_ " she once again voiced quietly as her narrowed eyes gazed coldly at the grey haired man.

Freed had a disturbing grin on his face as he watched the interactions between the two, "Oho! How scary~!" he spoke, before looking at his fellow priest, "Nice one, Hidan! You managed to piss her off really fast~"

"Hehe, thanks, ma—" Hidan managed to chuckle this time, however, he still had to end his mirth prematurely in order to avoid another piece of furniture flying at considerable speed in his direction.

He easily dodged the second dresser aimed at his face, though he reacted in a less pleasant manner than the last time, "Hey, you rude midget! I was talking!" he shouted with an annoyed expression on his face.

His words only made the girl look even angrier, "I will crush you..." she stated in a cold tone as she clenched her fists.

Hidan let out a small and brief whistle in response, "That's some nice killing intent you're giving me" he commented, before glancing at the white haired boy standing next to the couch, "Hey, Freed, sit this one out, okay? I wanna have some fun with this little devil before you exorcise her or whatever the shit you do to devils."

Freed blinked once as he processed the grey haired man's words, "Eh? Really?" his voice quickly raised in pitch as he complained, "But I wanna cut her up too, man! I wanna cut her up so bad it's making me tingly all over~!"

"Dude, come on!" Hidan pressed on, his stubbornness not willing to accept any alternative, "Gimme just ten minutes, and you'll get your turn after."

Freed seemed to relent after hearing that, "Okay, fine..." he muttered, "But no longer than ten minutes! And don't fuck her up too badly, 'cause I wanna have some fun too after~!"

Hidan grinned in response, "Yeah, yeah" he agreed airily, before turning to face the petite devil, "So, you ready, little girl?"

The white haired girl simply cracked her knuckles in response as she leveled the robed man with a piercing stare.

Hidan's grin stretched even further, "Hehehe, nice spirit!" he voiced out, before mimicking the girl's previous gesture, "I think I'll be going for some punches too, so don't disappoint me, girl! It's been a really long time since I've last fought barehanded, and I feel like letting loose again for a while!v"

A moment later, the grey haired man laughed out maniacally, before making a mad dash toward the white haired girl to get himself within striking distance.

The small girl didn't move an inch from her spot and quickly slipped into a trained stance as she prepared to hold her ground against the incoming frenzied man.

The moment he got close enough, Hidan tried to hit his target with a quick jab, however, the girl managed to dodge it with a sudden sidestep, before making her retaliation as she responded with a jab of her own.

Her attack was much slower than Hidan's, though, and the grey haired man easily managed to avoid it thanks to his inhuman agility.

A split second after his nimble dodge, Hidan followed with another punch that, despite being blocked by the girl, served its purpose of placing her on the defensive.

The oncoming flurry of punches that came after the previous one quickly put the girl under enough pressure that she wasn't able to do anything else than completely focus on either evading or blocking them.

The grey haired man's mouth slowly stretched into an excited grin when the girl managed to catch one of his fists and deflect the other one in an attempt to place his arms in a lock, and he quickly responded by twisting his body to strike at her with a powerful kick.

The girl was almost caught off guard by her opponent's display of flexibility, though she still managed to put up a counter as she immediately let go of his arms and prepared to intercept his rapidly approaching foot.

A barely visible wince flashed on her face for a split moment as she blocked the man's kick with her arms, before she skidded back several feet under the sheer force of the blow.

Once she came to a stop, her slightly widened eyes quickly met the grey haired man's grinning visage, and she stared at him emotionlessly while her mind attempted to process what she had just realized from their brief skirmish.

There was absolutely no way that this man was a regular human as she had initially thought. And if it wasn't for the unnatural displays of strength almost on par with a rook that he had demonstrated mere moments ago, then she could safely assume that he was abnormal simply from what she had noticed about him during their fight.

He could apparently manipulate his unnaturally high life force in a manner similar to how the yōkai would, and that observation alone had almost had her assuming that he knew senjutsu.

But he wasn't using senjutsu. And now that she thought about it better, she wasn't even sure how he was doing whatever he was doing.

He was using his life force to enhance his body in a similar way to how a senjutsu user would do through tōki, yet she could clearly sense that he wasn't actually using senjutsu. And even his application of life force was done in a too unusual manner to be considered a regular usage of tōki.

It was as bewildering as it was vexing for her to watch this man utilize his life energy in such an alien manner. She had never seen a human capable of doing something like this, and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't impressed.

It was really unfortunate that he seemed to be so wild and mentally unstable, on top of being in leagues with an exorcist, because otherwise he might have made for a good addition to her master's peerage.

Not that she wouldn't give her master a detailed report on him either way, but rather that she felt a little disappointed at the wasted potential. He was a pretty strong individual, and could have really made for a great rook had his personality been a little less off-putting...

The girl was quickly brought out of her thoughts when she heard her opponent suddenly address her.

"Hey, we gonna continue this, or what?" Hidan asked in a somewhat impatient tone, before crossing his arms as he kept his eyes trained on the little girl standing at the other end of the room.

The stoic girl didn't seem to give any response other than returning the man's stare as she stood her ground with her guard raised.

After spending several moments looking one at the other in silence, Hidan seemed to mistake the girl's lack of a response for reluctance in making a move, so he addressed her once more, "Don't tell me you got second thoughts after that kick, 'cause I didn't hit you that hard, you know? I held back enough to make this more exciting, so come on, don't disappoint me!"

Despite the man's steadily raising voice, the girl still didn't make any move, other than slightly narrowing her eyes at his words.

Seeing that, Hidan continued to press on, "Here, you can even have a free hit, if that's what you need to get going!" he offered with an easygoing grin, before stretching out his arms.

The girl's eyes narrowed even further when she registered the man's suggestion, and her previously impassive gaze gained a rather distinctive edge to it.

Not only was he treating their fight like it was nothing more than a sort of game for his personal entertainment, but he also kept displaying an overconfidence that bordered on arrogance.

He might have had an abnormal strength and unusual ability to boost him in a fight, but he wasn't the only one who could pack a serious punch here. And she was about to show him just that.

Letting a steady, almost inaudible breath out, the white haired girl seemed to focus for a few moments, before she quickly dashed toward her opponent at a speed that was quite impressive given her status as a rook.

Seeing the small girl rapidly approach his position, Hidan simply smiled even wider as he kept his arms spread in an almost welcoming gesture.

Whether this gesture angered the girl even more or not couldn't be seen from her emotionless expression, however, by the time she reached her target with her right arm cocked back, one could easily figure out the answer by simply noting the really tight clenching of her fist.

A moment later, and the girl's fist impacted against the awaiting man's chest with a force powerful enough to make an audible sound and to send him skidding a couple feet backwards.

A few seconds passed in silence, before the girl met her opponent's gaze as she lowered her arm, "You are tough..." she spoke while clenching and unclenching her fist several times to alleviate the mild stinging sensation from it.

Freed let out an impressed whistle as he looked at the grey haired man, whose excited grin appeared to have gotten even wider after receiving that punch, as if it he hadn't just been hit with enough force to smash through metal.

"Whoa, that was fucking badass!" the young priest commented with discernible awe in his voice, "That punch would've pulverized a brick wall, and you just tanked it like a boss! I'm super impressed, man!"

Mai was also looking in amazement at Hidan, though in her case, the only thought currently going through her mind was that of how much of a juggernaut the robed man seemed to be.

Hearing Freed's complimenting words, Hidan glanced at the boy-priest and grinned, "Hehe, thanks, man" he spoke, before returning his attention on the stoic girl standing in the middle of the room, "You ain't too shabby, girly. That definitely bruised a rib or two" he poked at his chest a few times for emphasis, "But now, let's kick this up a notch or two and see what you're really made of!"

A moment later, Hidan cackled in excitement, his eyes shining with a manic glint, as he charged toward the petite girl in a sudden burst of speed that caught her completely by surprise.

The girl barely had time to widen her eyes at the display of speed and hastily brought her arms up to intercept the fierce kick aimed at her torso.

Aware of the man's acrobatic prowess, she didn't try to block his attack, as that would have most likely ended with him twisting around to deliver another kick at her that she wouldn't have been able to block, so instead she simply grabbed his incoming foot and held it tightly to her chest.

This move on her part seemed to slightly surprise Hidan, though he still grinned like a madman as she started started to spin him around, before releasing him toward the other end of the room like a throwing weight.

Quickly repositioning himself in midair, the grey haired man avoided crashing painfully into the wall and instead used it as a springboard to launch himself back at the small girl while shrieking loudly in excitement.

The girl was mildly impressed to see her opponent manage to pull off such a move, though she didn't dwell long on that thought and immediately ducked to avoid the human missile heading her way.

Hidan cut through the air above the petite girl's head like an arrow, and once more had to twist his body in the air to avoid making a crash landing.

His feet cracked the wall and left a visible imprint as he propelled himself back into the fight at a blistering speed, shrieking like a madman as his eyes shone with crazed glee.

The girl barely had any time to turn around as she was raising herself from her crouched position, before the air was forced out of her lungs when Hidan tackled her.

Using his momentum, the robed man dragged his opponent along through the air, intent on crashing the both of them in the wall on the other side of the room, however, the girl managed to wrestle him enough to reposition herself so that she would take minimum damage from the impact.

A split second later, and the two of them crashed loudly in the rather sturdy wall—Hidan head first, and the girl only with her left side.

The girl immediately took advantage of the fact that her opponent seemed to momentarily be stuck halfway through the smashed wall and freed herself from his grip, though she had to hold back a wince at the sharp pain that flared in her left shoulder when she moved.

She might have managed to avoid most of the damage from the impact, but she had definitely bruised her shoulder as a result. It didn't look like it was anything too serious, though it would affect her effectiveness in fight to some degree.

Glancing back at the wall, the girl took a moment to once more reaffirm in her mind the fact that her opponent was a very sturdy individual, because it took a considerable level of durability to go through a crash like that without ending up with a broken neck.

"Not bad, girl" Hidan spoke, his voice coming slightly muffled at first as he pulled himself out of the rubble, "That was a nice last moment save you did there."

The stoic girl didn't react in any visible manner at the grey haired man's words, and simply watched him with impassive eyes as he cracked his neck and dusted himself off.

"That was so sick, man!" Freed suddenly chimed in animatedly, interrupting the brief silence, "You really gotta teach me some of your moves, because they're super awesome!"

Hidan let out an easygoing chuckle at that, "Hehe, sure" he said, before looking back at the white haired girl, who immediately reassumed her fighting stance when she noticed his attention shifting back on her.

Seeing her reaction, Hidan grinned widely in anticipation, though, just when he was about to launch himself back into the fray, he was interrupted by Freed, who addressed him once more.

"By the way, man, the time's up" the young priest spoke after checking a pocket watch that he had produced from his robes, "It's my turn now."

Hidan blinked a few times in confusion as he processed the boy's words, before he opened his mouth to ask, "Really?"

Freed didn't waste a moment with his reply, "Yeah" he punctuated with a nod.

A dejected look quickly crossed the grey haired man's visage after hearing that, "Man, that sucks" he whined, sounding almost like a child being denied dessert, "I was really getting into it..."

This display didn't seem to have any effect on the white haired boy, though.

"Hey, stop sulking, man. Don't hog all the fun to yourself. Let me have some, too!" Freed spoke with a faint note of exasperation in his voice, "Come on, let's switch!"

Hidan grumbled something incoherently in response, though kept true to the initial agreement and quickly relaxed his posture, "Alright, alright" he sighed, before turning around and walking toward the corner of the room where Mai was standing and watching in silence.

Stopping next to the brown haired girl, he greeted her with a casual gesture of his hand, before propping himself against the wall and shifting his attention on the eager boy-priest.

"Awesome!" Freed exclaimed in excitement, grinning disturbingly at the white haired girl from across the room, before reaching inside his robe for one of his trusty light swords, "Okay, you shitty devil, it's—" he began speaking, though was quickly interrupted by a familiar sounding voice that suddenly rang from behind him.

"Father Freed!"

"Eh?" the young priest sounded in mild confusion, before looking over his shoulder as he quickly took notice of the blonde nun staring intently at him, "Oh, Asia-chan!" he greeted jovially, "Are you done setting up the magical barrier?"

Asia opened her mouth to answer, though, before she could have gotten any word out, her breath hitched in her throat as she gasped in surprise when she noticed the petite figure of the girl standing at the other side of the room.

"Koneko-san...?" Asia muttered, her eyes widening in shock.

The petite girl seemed to recognize the nun as well, if the look of surprise faintly discernible on her face was of any indication, "Asia-san..."

Watching the interaction between the two girls, Freed quickly became intrigued by the seemingly unexpected turn of events, "What, what? You two know each other?" he quickly asked, sounding both curious and surprised.

Neither of the girls paid any attention to what he said.

Asia kept staring almost in incomprehension at the white haired girl as she couldn't seem to understand what she was doing in this place, or why she looked battered as if she had just been in a serious fight, "Why are you...?" she asked, her small voice trailing off as she didn't know what else to say.

Koneko lowered her gaze at the nun's words, opening her mouth to give a reply after hesitating for a few moments, "I'm... a devil" she spoke, her hazel eyes avoiding contact with the blonde haired girl.

"A devil?" Asia repeated, as if trying to convince herself that she had not misheard the girl's words, "Koneko-san is...?"

The white haired girl responded with a weak nod as she kept her gaze downcast.

Asia gasped once more, looking visibly shocked at the reaffirmation.

Freed seemed to choose this moment to insert himself into the discussion, and moved closer to the distressed nun, "Unfortunately, Asia-chan, devils and humans are incompatible" his voice lowered to a whisper as he leant close to the blonde girl's right ear, "Not to mention that we can't live without the protection of the fallen angels."

Hidan's sensitive hearing managed to pick up those whispered words, which led to his interest being momentarily roused, "Fallen angels?" he spoke out in curiosity, more to himself than anyone else as he vaguely remembered being told about something like this by his Lord.

Though, this train of thought on the grey haired man's part didn't seem to last for too long, because less than a few moments later he once again tuned out of the discussion happening at the other end of the room and started picking his nose.

"Now then, where was I?" Freed's voice resounded throughout the silent room as he stepped away from the distressed nun, "Oh, yes! I was about to have my turn with this shitty devil over here!" he spoke excitedly as he faced the white haired girl, "I need to kill this trash, or else I can't finish my job~!"

He grinned widely and pointed his light saber at the female devil, "Are you ready~?" he added in a singsong voice, "Even if you aren't, here I come!"

Hearing that, Koneko forced herself to put aside all of her current worries for the time being, and slipped back into a battle-ready stance as she narrowed her eyes at her obviously unhinged opponent.

The silver haired priest eagerly drew his weapon back, and was about to lunge at the battered girl, though he had to quickly stop himself when he saw his assistant run up to the devil and position herself protectively in front of her.

This action on the blonde nun's part seemed to seriously take Koneko by surprise, "Asia-san?" she voiced in mild confusion, not expecting Asia to take her side after learning about what she was.

Freed's smile quickly vanished as he continued to watch his assistant stand firm in front of the devil girl that he was trying to slaughter, "Come on! Are you serious?" he spoke in an incredulous tone.

A moment later, Asia finally opened her mouth to speak, "Father Freed" she began, her voice pleading, "Please forgive this one! Let her go, please!"

The silver haired priest slightly narrowed his eyes at that, "Do you know what you're saying?" he replied in a lower tone that carried a distinct edge to it.

Asia seemed to notice that she was treading a very fine line, but she still chose to press on the matter, "She may be a devil, but Koneko-san is a good person!" the girl argued, "And God wouldn't forgive you for such an act!"

Unfortunately, her words didn't seem to have the desired effect.

"Haaah?!" Freed sounded angrily as his voice increased in volume, "Don't give me that crap, you bitch!" he spoke harshly, before slashing with his light sword at the blonde nun's robe, cutting her garments at the front and exposing her developing chest.

A startled cry immediately came in response from Asia, and she quickly brought up an arm to cover her modesty as she looked at her superior with a note of fear in her forest green eyes.

From the other side of the room, Mai gained a rather worried look upon witnessing the most recent development as a series of very unpleasant memories briefly flashed in her mind, and she quickly turned to glance at the grey haired man leaning on the wall next to her.

Hidan looked like he was giving much more attention to the other three occupants of the room than earlier, though he still seemed to lack the necessary implication to show that he was actually giving a damn about what he was witnessing.

The brown haired girl decided not to say anything, partly because she didn't think that she had the right to make any demands of him, but also because she had a feeling that her eccentric companion would at least intervene to some extent if things turned too dark.

"Have you lost your mind?" Freed's irate voice cut sharply through the silent atmosphere of the room, "Or is there something wrong with your head? Huh?"

The silver haired boy took a moment to drive his light sword a few inches into the wooden floor next to him, before he returned his full attention on the blonde nun rooted on her spot in front of him.

Koneko's eyes narrowed dangerously at the priest, and her entire body tensed in preparation to intervene at a moment's notice, if the situation required her to do so in the next few moments.

Freed stepped closer to Asia and roughly grabbed her face with one hand as he pulled her toward him, until they were only a few inches apart, "That fallen angel woman told me not to hurt you, but I think you _do_ need a little punishment!" he whispered to her as a devious smirk wormed on his face.

A moment later, the boy threw Asia toward the wall, before pinning her to it by her sleeves using his light sword that he had retrieved in a smooth and practiced motion.

Though, he didn't get to do anything more beyond that, because he quickly had to move aside in order to barely dodge a punch from the white haired girl, who had immediately rushed toward his position as soon as he attempted to make a move on the nun.

"Hey, hey, don't you know that it's rude to interrupt others like this?" Freed spoke in indignation as he pointed with the gun from his other hand at the petite devil.

Koneko lowered her extended arm, before looking at the deranged priest with determined eyes, "I won't let you hurt Asia-san" she declared, her words filled with a conviction that heavily contrasted with her normally emotionless behavior.

Freed only further grinned upon hearing that, "But I wasn't going to hurt her—much~!" his voice came out in a mixture of insane glee and excitement, "I was just gonna seriously fuck her up—literally, hehe~!"

The girl's features twitched minutely into what could only be assumed to be a sneer, "Disgusting" she uttered, before looking away from the repulsive priest.

Koneko walked closer to the blonde nun, and removed the light sword pinning her to the wall, prompting Asia to fall in her knees as she covered her exposed chest with both of her arms.

The petite girl looked at the contraption in her hand with a clear note of distaste showing on her face, before she clamped her fingers as hard as she could on the sword's hilt, easily crushing it and prompting the light beam to dissipate.

Then she dropped the barely recognizable chunk on the floor and glanced back at the wicked priest with narrowed eyes.

Freed seemed to have lost his playful and chipper demeanor, and now looked to be rather incensed as his eyes lingered on the remains of what had used to be his light sword.

"The hell, you shitty devil?! Do you know how fucking expensive these light swords are?!" he shouted angrily at the devil girl, "And what was that about you calling me dis—" Though, he didn't get to finish his sentence, because he was suddenly interrupted by Hidan.

"Dude, seriously?" the grey haired man asked from the other side of the room, his posture still relaxed as he kept leaning against the wall, yet his voice lacked its usual playfulness.

Freed seemed to momentarily forget about the female devil currently glaring at him from several feet away, and quickly swerved his head to regard his fellow religious acquaintance, "Huh? What?" he asked in slight confusion.

"Aren't you a priest?" Hidan added after a moment of silence.

Freed still didn't seem to understand what the other man was implying, "Yeah, and?"

Hidan simply brought one of his hands up and pointed at the kneeling nun, "Don't you know it's uncool to do shit like that?" he elaborated, "If you're a highly religious person, you gotta behave properly, man."

Freed blinked a few times as he processed the grey haired man's words, "Eh? For real?" he asked with a disbelieving face, "Are you serious? Are you really telling me this?"

Hidan didn't seem to pick up on the boy's sarcasm and nodded sagely in response, "Yeah, man" he replied, his tone becoming more serious, "You don't wanna be a sinner, do you? Even more so, since she's a nun."

Seeing how serious his fellow priest seemed to be about the matter, Freed relented and became a little more serious himself, "But I'm super pissed at that dumb bitch! If I don't do something to her, I won't be able to heal my heart!" he argued.

Hidan seemed to ponder the boy's words for a few moments, allowing a momentary silence to settle over the room as the other occupants watched the two men's interactions in silence.

Eventually, he came to a realization and opened his mouth to speak, "Then why don't you try to focus your anger on something else?" he suggested, before falling into thought some more.

Moments later, the grey haired man suddenly hit his palm with his fist as an idea occurred to him, "I know!" a grin quickly formed on his face, "You didn't get to fight your turn with the midget, did ya? You should totally try that."

Koneko briefly shifted her glare on Hidan after hearing that, though the man didn't seem to acknowledge it, as he was too absorbed in his discussion with the boy.

Freed himself looked like he was seriously considering the older man's words, "Hmm, that's not a bad idea..." his usual excited grin returned on his features a moment later, and he quickly spoke in enthusiasm, "Not bad at all, Hidan!"

Hidan simply grinned wider in response and gave the boy a thumbs up.

Freed mirrored the man's action, before adding, "Thanks, man! You really helped me here."

"You're welcome, though don't sweat it too much" Hidan spoke, his tone once more back to being easygoing, "If you're gonna join us, then I'll have to help you as my future subordinate. What I told you is just part of the commandments" a rather disturbing grin lined his features as he spoke the next part, "Besides, it'll be super awesome if you learn how to direct your anger and really let it all loose in a fight. You'll be able to go seriously nuts on the heretics and have tons of fun!"

Freed pocketed his gun as he once more began pondering on the older man's words, and another brief period of silence settled amidst the occupants of the room.

Koneko really didn't mind the two idiots wasting time talking to each other, because she had realized ever since her battle with Hidan that her best bet to get out of this situation relatively unscathed would be to stall for as much as possible, until her friends and her master arrived to help her.

Mai, on the other hand, seemed to have become less tense now that the young nun didn't seem to be in any more danger for the time being, though, at the same time, she couldn't help but be baffled at the absurdity of what she had been witnessing for the past few minutes.

After almost a minute had passed, the silent atmosphere was suddenly broken by the silver haired boy, who seemed to have finally reached a conclusion with his previous musings.

"That sounds like some real awesome stuff!" Freed exclaimed with a wide grin and redoubled enthusiasm, "You almost convinced me to accept by saying that. Though I'll still have to think some more, you know?"

Hidan shrugged in response, "Sure, man, no problem" he replied with a grin of his own.

Freed looked really happy after hearing the grey haired man's words, "Awesome!" he said while reaching with his free hand inside his coat, before shifting his attention back on the devil girl as he retrieved another sword hilt to replace the one destroyed earlier by her, "And now to actually finish my job here~"

Koneko immediately got back into her stance and waited for the vulgar priest to make his move.

Freed turned on his light sword and pointed it at the white haired girl as he slipped into a stance of his own, "I'm gonna go wild on you, shitty devil!" he shouted in maniacal glee, before leaping high into the air, both of his hands tightly gripping the hilt of his raised weapon in preparation to slash at the devil.

Asia looked in worry at the petite girl, who was firmly standing her ground, whereas Hidan let out a mildly impressed whistle at the boy-priest's enthusiasm.

However, just as Freed was making his descent from midair toward his target, a red tinted magical circle suddenly flared into existence between him and the white haired girl, out of which, the figure of a blonde haired boy holding a dark colored sword quickly emerged.

Freed's wild swing was quickly intercepted by the handsome-looking boy, and the two of them clashed swords in midair, before landing on the floor a couple seconds later as their weapons remained locked in their attempt at overpowering the other.

"Koneko-chan, I'm here to help" the blonde swordsman spoke with a friendly smile as he glanced over his shoulder at the petite girl, his grip on his weapon remaining relaxed yet steady during the entire time, much to the frustration of his opponent, who seemed to be visibly struggling to overpower him.

Koneko didn't verbally react to her comrade's words, however, her eyes carried a discernible note of gratitude as she glanced in his direction.

The magic circle on the floor flashed brightly once again, and another person emerged out of it, this one being a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure dressed in a similar uniform to her white haired friend, as well as very long, black colored hair styled into a ponytail held together by an orange ribbon.

The girl's violet eyes quickly swept over the room in inspection as she slowly stepped out of the transportation sigil, and as soon as she was done taking in her surroundings, she brought one of her hands to her mouth as she voiced in mild surprise, "Oh my, this is awful."

Seeing the arrival of another devil, Freed broke the blade lock with the blonde boy and leapt back a few feet, putting some distance between the two of them. He quickly produced his gun from his coat and leveled both it and his sword at his opponents as he gave an excited yell, "I see all the devils are here!" he spoke in an eager tone.

"Sorry, but she's with us" the sword wielding boy voiced coolly as he slipped into a well-practiced stance. Behind him, the dark haired girl was standing in silence with her arms resting in front of her lap and a rather ominous smile on her face.

Freed grinned at the boy, "Oh, oh! I like that!" he leant in closer as his expression became more deranged and added, "So what? You're the type to like them extra tight?"

The blonde boy's mouth twitched in slight disgust, both at the priest's words and at his handiwork on the wall that he had noticed moments earlier, "How vulgar. I can't believe you're a priest."

The silver haired boy's voice dropped to a more dangerous tone as soon a he registered the swordsman's words, "Don't pretend like you're refined, you shitty devil. It's my purpose in life to hunt down maggots like you!" he rebuked, his voice rapidly regaining its previous excitement, "Just shut up and let me kill you~!"

Hearing that, the dark haired girl standing a couple feet behind the blonde swordsman brought a hand to her smiling face and slightly opened her eyes, prompting her expression to become even more eerie, "Even us devils don't jump on just anyone" she spoke in an arch tone.

Freed shifted his attention on her and quickly gained a delighted expression, "Oh, I like your intense stare!" he brought his arms around himself in a hug and closed his eyes, before continuing to rave, "Could this be love? Or intent to kill?" a disturbing giggle left his mouth shortly after, "It's so exciting, no matter which side is doing the killing~!"

However, his pleasant mood was suddenly interrupted by a new voice that sounded sternly from across the room.

"Then you should just disappear."

The silver haired priest's eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar yet distinctively female voice, though he didn't have the time to look surprised for too long at the wave of red and black energy rapidly heading his way.

Relying purely on his honed instincts, the boy managed to evade the incoming blast of demonic energy at the last moment, causing it to instead hit the two couches behind him and completely engulf them in an eerie blaze.

From several feet beyond the resulting explosion, Hidan was watching the unfolding events in a mixture of curiosity at the attack made by the newly arrived devil, and growing excitement at the prospect of having another good fight.

Next to the grey haired man, however, Mai didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as her companion.

The brown haired girl's features were visibly a shade paler and her hands were shaking minutely while hanging limply at her sides. Her eyes were widened and still fixated on the thin wisps of smoke that were everything which remained after the two couches in front of her had been vaporized by that wave of energy.

The same female voice from earlier sounded once more throughout the silent room as its owner took one last step to fully emerge from the magic circle.

"It seems you've been messing around with my adorable servant."

This newly arrived individual was another beautiful young woman dressed in an identical uniform as the dark haired one, though she carried herself with much more posture than any of the other devils present in the room.

Her long, crimson hair swayed behind her buxom frame as she took a couple more steps away from the disappearing sigil on the floor, and her blue eyes kept their cold and piercing glare focused on the silver haired priest, who had managed to avoid her previous attack.

Freed's expression became a little more serious as he met the red haired girl's glowering stare, "Oh, are you the real deal?" though, his frivolous attitude quickly returned with his next words, "Yes, yes, I've been messing around with her. Or rather that's what I was trying to do, before you and your devil squadron interrupted me" the boy-priest pointed with his gun-holding hand behind him and added sullenly, "I was planning to pick from where my buddy over there left off and start cutting her up real nice, but you shitty devils butted in my business and it all finished as a dream."

The crimson haired girl looked in the direction where the foul mouthed exorcist indicated at, and her mouth slightly twitched in disgust as her eyes gazed over the sight of a mutilated man nailed down to one of the walls, however, she didn't dwell much on that thought once she took notice of the two other individuals present at the back of the room.

After taking a moment to inspect the two humans for any possible connection to the supernatural, she immediately dismissed the scared looking brown haired girl, and instead focused her attention on the grey haired man dressed in a dark robe reclining against the wall next to her.

She couldn't sense anything unusual from the robed man either, however, there were a couple things about him that made him stand out from being considered as just a regular human by her.

One was the strange symbol embroidered into the hood of his attire, which looked rather familiar to her, though she couldn't seem to recall where exactly she had seen it before, and the other was the fact that he appeared to be acquainted with the deranged priest, who was currently busy making a mocking face at her.

She could clearly tell that the unconcerned looking man wasn't an exorcist, however, she could vaguely sense something about him that almost made her feel on edge for some reason.

"Yo!" the grey haired man was the first to break the silence in the room as he raised one of his hands at the buxom redhead in a casual greeting, "I'm the one who played around a little with Koneko. It was pretty fun. She definitely packs some real strength in that tiny body of hers" he spoke nonchalantly, before pointing at himself with his thumb, "The name's Hidan, by the way."

The girl narrowed her eyes at Hidan's words, though she didn't say anything in reply and instead looked over her shoulder, "Are you all right, Koneko?" she asked in a softer tone, before walking up to the white haired girl.

Koneko nodded in response, the note of gratitude in her voice belying the stoic expression present on her face, "Yes, President."

The crimson haired girl quickly took notice of her servant's torn uniform and bruised shoulder, and placed a hand on the petite girl's other shoulder as she leant closer to her, "You're hurt" she spoke in a compassionate tone, "I'm sorry. I didn't know a stray exorcist was around. I never noticed, because there was a barrier set up until a little ago."

Freed released a frustrated snarl upon hearing that and quickly walked up to the downed form of the blonde nun, "What are you doing, you stupid bitch?" he snapped angrily at her, before starting to stomp his foot on her, "It's your job to take care of the barrier!"

Asia whimpered under the force of each hit against her back, but fortunately for her, the maniacal priest suddenly ceased hitting her as he seemed to remember something.

He didn't pay any mind to the white haired devil glowering at him from across the room and quickly glanced in the direction where Hidan was lounging against the wall, "Hey, man, it's okay if I just hit her a couple times, right?" he asked, prompting the grey haired man to adopt a thoughtful expression, "You've seen what stupid shit this dumb bitch is putting me through, right? It's seriously driving me crazy, and with these devil fuckers constantly interrupting my fun, I really gotta do something to relieve the stress, man!"

Hidan took a few moments to properly consider the boy's words, and quickly came to a rather startling realization.

Toneri was really putting up with a lot of stupid shit from him, and that thought alone brought the grey haired man a lot of newfound respect for his best friend.

Hidan knew that he was stupid and that there wasn't much that could be done about it, so he was really grateful for the fact that his best buddy used sarcasm to relieve his stress most of the times. He might be pretty weak to sarcasm, but it was still much better than living in a world of constant, one-sided pain.

Hidan mentally shuddered at that thought, before remembering that he had an answer to give to his new friend, "I guess so?" he half muttered, half asked as he gave a tentative shrug, "I mean, I'm pretty stupid myself, and my best buddy always threatens to beat the shit out of me whenever I go too far and piss him off really bad, so..." he trailed off as he tried to piece his thoughts together to form a conclusion, "I think it makes sense in a way, because it usually sets me straight for a few hours, especially when he decides to act on his threats" a sheepish chuckle escaped his mouth a moment later, "I mean, the first time we met, he had his army of hundreds of puppets try to shoot me full of holes, and then he personally tried to cut me in half with a huge golden sword of pure destruction. And all of that happened in less than half an hour... so yeah, I'd say go for it."

The grey haired man's words seemed to bring a rather interesting assortment of reactions from the other occupants of the room.

Asia didn't seem to visibly react in any manner, though if one were to look close enough, they could see that she braced herself in await for another series of hits from her superior.

Mai finally stopped shaking as she was completely snapped out of her previous fear by her companion's overly casual admission to stupidity.

Koneko's stoic demeanor didn't change, though her eyes were reflecting a note of anger at the man's stupidity most likely leading to more potential hurt for Asia.

The blond haired swordsman merely gained a stilted smile on his lips as he looked at the robed man with discernible traces of disbelief on his features.

The voluptuous young woman with dark hair simply giggled in her hand, though her eyes seemed to reflect a rather unsettling glint as she was gazing at the grey haired man.

The other beautiful young woman didn't show any visible reaction to the sheer amount of stupidity expressed in so few words by that man, though she was internally filing away some of the information that had intrigued her for a later consideration while still gazing in concern at her injured servant.

Freed, on the other hand, looked like he was really grateful for the advice, despite still finding it pretty weird to hear Hidan admit so openly that he was an idiot.

Nevertheless, he made sure to let his new buddy know that he appreciated the help he had given him once again.

"Thanks again, Hidan!" the silver haired boy said, before shifting his attention back on the blonde nun lying defenselessly at his feet and proceeding to stomp on her a few more times.

"No problem, Freed" Hidan replied with an easy grin, before shrugging in indifference as he watched the youthful priest take his frustrations out on the blonde girl. It was a super tame punishment in comparison to what he'd used to experience on a weekly basis at the hands of his former partner, so it should be okay for the girl.

From the other side of the room, however, Koneko was staring at the silver haired priest with such intensity as though she was trying to drill a hole through his head with her sight alone.

A few moments passed as more whimpers continued to escape the young nun's mouth with every hit that connected to her side, and the petite girl already had her fists balled and was about to dash toward the deranged priest and punch him through a wall.

Though, after she took only a step, Koneko was interrupted when she felt a hand rest on her left shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and was met with the hard yet kind eyes of her master, to which she gave a wordless nod and remained standing where she was.

The crimson haired girl straightened her back and leveled a stern look at the grey haired man leaning comfortably against the wall at the back of the room, "It's my policy to show no mercy to anyone who hurts my servants" she stated in a voice of authority, before veering her gaze on the silver haired priest and narrowing her eyes, "Though, in particular, I can't stand when a vulgar fiend like you tries to damage my property either."

Waves of crimson energy emanating from her being accompanied her words, and the sheer intensity of her presence caused the atmosphere of the room to feel almost frozen to some of those present.

This sudden release of demonic power from the red haired girl caused Freed to stop hitting the nun and also prompted him to take a couple steps back in apprehension, "You look pretty damn powerful" he muttered in a more subdued tone as he quickly reassessed the situation, "I mean, this is pretty bad."

"Hey, dude, don't tell me you're actually scared of this red haired chick?" Hidan interjected with a grin as he jabbed with his thumb in the direction of the red haired girl, before lazily pushing himself off the wall.

Six pairs of eyes were immediately trained on his form as he did that, and four of them were looking at him as if trying to predict his next move in order to counter him, if needed.

Freed had a look of indignation on his face from the grey haired man's previous words, "In case you haven't noticed, there's like four of them and only two of us! And that redhead chick can fucking turn you into a pile of ashes, if you're not careful enough!" he quickly snapped back at the robed man.

"Whoa, man, you don't have to get so worked up" Hidan tried to placate the boy a moment later, "It was just a joke."

This seemed to calm Freed down, and he muttered a "Whatever," before remembering what he had initially wanted to say, "Anyway, do you have a plan, or what?" he asked as he took a stance in preparation for the impending fight, prompting the blonde swordsman facing him to also tense his body and assume a stance of his own as his hardened eyes never left the sword of light in the vulgar priest's grip.

Hidan merely shrugged in response to the boy-priest's words, "Meh, I dunno" he said offhandedly, "I was just thinking about jumping at them and keep slashing until they drop dead." This earned him even more intense stares from the group of devils, though he didn't seem to notice them and simply continued with his idea, "That redhead was pretty rude to me earlier, and now that she's actually brought out so much killing intent, it got me really pumped up" he grinned in excitement, "So I kinda wanna fight her."

Freed looked a little skeptical upon hearing that, "Man, you sure?" he asked, "I mean, I've seen what you can do, but remember those two couches from earlier?" he added, pointing at the scorched patch of floor for emphasis, "One hit and you could end up like that too. Super mega dead."

Hidan simply chuckled in response, "Heh, I'd be glad if that happened" he spoke as a strange glint flashed in his eyes for a brief moment, before waving his fellow priest's concerns off with his trademark casual attitude, "But I really don't think she can pull it off with just that little power."

The crimson haired girl immediately narrowed her eyes as soon as she registered the man's words, and had to resist the urge to scoff at his arrogant attitude. It reminded her of a certain individual that she really could go without having to think about so often.

The dark haired girl, however, seemed to have developed an almost predatory glint in her violet eyes after hearing that man speak in such a manner about welcoming his own demise.

Freed, on the other hand, wasn't entirely convinced about what his buddy exactly hand in mind, though he didn't press any further on the matter after seeing that unusual look in his eyes, "If you say so" the boy conceded a moment later, unable to refute the sheer passion and reverence that he had glimpsed from the man during that brief moment.

Hidan didn't seem to acknowledge that, because his attention was currently on the redhead at the other side of the room, "By the way, that's some nice killing intent you got there, girl!" he voiced in excitement as he materialized his triple bladed scythe, prompting the group of devils to look at it with critical eyes as the man lazily rested it over his right shoulder.

As the group of devils continued to stare at the translucent scythe, each of them began to feel slightly unnerved, as if the weapon's very presence was placing them on edge for some inexplicable reason.

Koneko was the first to look away from the eerie looking scythe as she turned to glance at her master with a hint of concern showing in her hazel eyes, "President, that man is dangerous" the petite girl spoke as she clearly remembered it from her own fight with him, "Please don't underestimate him."

The crimson haired girl nodded in acknowledgement, "I won't" she replied, "Thank you, Koneko." A moment later, the aura of power surrounding her intensified, and she faced toward the scythe-wielding man.

Seeing this, Freed quickly realized that he had yet to finish his pre-battle discussion, so he addressed his fellow priest once more and in a more urgent tone, "What about the rest of them?" he asked as he pointed with his gun at the other three devils in the group, "I can't take more than two of these guys, you know?"

Hidan didn't seem to think for more than a couple seconds to come up with his answer, "Then I'll take that dark haired chick, too" he stated in a casual tone, before rolling his shoulders a few times, "Is that good for you, Freed?"

The silver haired boy nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Thanks, man" he said, though at the same time hoping that his buddy wasn't going to do something stupid and get himself killed, because that would suck.

"Neat" Hidan replied, before lifting his translucent scythe off his shoulder and grinning maniacally as he was about to make a dash toward the other side of the room, "Now let's fuck some shit up and have fun!"

Hearing that, the group of devils tensed in preparation for the fight, however, one of them seemed to be almost eager to make a move.

The voluptuous girl with dark, long hair had the beginning of a flush cover her cheeks as she was holding one of her hands to her face, while in the other she was gathering her power in the form of a lightning bolt.

A moment later, though, her almost hungry look was quickly replaced with a more apprehensive one as she seemed to suddenly sense something.

She immediately glanced at her superior and spoke, "President, there appear to be several fallen angels heading to this house" the demonic energy in her hand dispersed as she added, "At this rate we would be at a disadvantage."

Following her words, a blue glowing portal of some kind appeared on the ceiling above Freed's position, which prompted Hidan to stop in his tracks and stare at it in confusion.

"Huh? The fuck is that now?" the grey haired man blurted out a moment later.

Freed's enthusiasm seemed to instantly return as soon as he noticed the portal above his head, "It's reinforcements! We're making a comeback!" he let out an excited cackle, before looking at the group of devils, "You'll all vanish in light~!"

The crimson haired girl seemed to ponder her options for a few moments, before she turned to look at her dark haired subordinate and gave her reply, "Retrieving Koneko is our priority for now" she stated coolly, "Prepare for teleportation, Akeno."

The dark haired girl looked slightly disappointed at the order, though it only lasted for a brief moment, and she quickly complied, "Yes."

"Koneko, can you buy Akeno some time?"

The white haired girl nodded at her master, "Yes" she spoke, before walking up to a nearby wardrobe and hoisting it up.

Hidan chose this moment to make his own thoughts on the matter known to those present, "Whoa, whoa, are you guys seriously running away because of that?" he asked in mild disbelief as he lowered his scythe, though no one besides Mai seemed to pay him any attention, "That's fucking cowardly."

His previously good mood seemed to rapidly take a one-eighty turn, and his weapon also started dematerializing a moment later.

Freed, on the other hand, didn't look like he would allow the devils to get away so easily.

Noticing this, Koneko decided to make the first move and threw the wardrobe she was holding at him.

"Damn you devils, you're not going—"

The silver haired boy mouthed angrily as he was about to dash toward the retreating devils, however, he didn't get to take more than one step before he noticed the piece of furniture heading his way. He quickly turned around and tried to dodge it, though he was too late with his reaction, and the moderately sized wardrobe made contact with its mark.

"Ow! That hurts!" Freed exclaimed in a high pitched voice as he was sent face-first to the floor after the wardrobe impacted against his back.

Hidan raised an eyebrow as he saw his fellow priest get hit by a piece of furniture, which even bounced off him and landed a few feet away, before shrugging and returning his attention on the complicated pattern that was glowing in a red light below the retreating group of devils.

Koneko glanced in the direction of the blonde nun lying on the floor and met her forest green eyes for a few moments, before her gaze became downcast as she looked away. She knew that there was nothing more she could do for the girl right now, but that didn't mean she was okay with abandoning her like that and leaving her in the company of that demented priest.

Asia simply gave the white haired girl a sad smile as she picked herself up from the floor, and covered her exposed chest where her clothes had been slashed earlier with the long sleeves of her robe.

A moment later, the reddish light coming from the intricate sigil on the wooden floor became much more intense, and the group of devils standing above it were quickly transported away from the house.

By the time the glowing in the room died down, Freed was already picking himself from the floor, though with a rather displeased expression on his face, most probably at the devils' successful retreat.

He placed his light sword and gun back inside his coat while muttering something angrily under his breath, before he glanced at the grey haired man standing a few feet away from him.

Hidan was still staring at the spot where the group of devils had previously stood, seemingly lost in thought, "Man, what a bunch of cowards..." he spoke to no one in particular, "Leaving like that and spoiling my mood..."

Neither Asia nor Mai tried to say anything to the two men, as they didn't want to somehow set them off and make the matters even worse, so they simply settled for watching them in silence and hoping for everything to settle down in a relatively peaceful manner.

Several moments passed in silence, before Freed seemed to realize something and suddenly yelled at the other male occupant of the room, "Hey, you moron, why did you let them get away?!"

This quickly snapped Hidan out of his thoughts and prompted him to glance at the silver haired boy with an almost indignant look, "Dude, you got beat by a piece of furniture back there" he countered in a slightly heated tone, "You can't be talking shit to me after something that weak."

Hearing that brought a look of embarrassment on Freed's visage, "Hey, I just didn't see it coming, that's all!" he argued in an attempt to save face in front of his fellow priest, "And you still let them run away like that. What's up with that shit, man?"

Hidan merely sighed in response, "It's because they ran away like cowards" he elaborated, his voice rapidly losing its previous edge, "That really killed off my mood."

Freed raised an eyebrow at that, "Seriously?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Meh, whatever..." the silver haired boy trailed off as his gaze wandered to the swirling portal above him.

Hidan also followed his fellow priest's gaze and looked at the glowing portal for a few seconds, before he opened his mouth to speak again, "So, what about this portal thingy on the ceiling?" he asked while pointing upwards with a thumb, "Anything coming out of it anytime soon?"

Freed nodded in response, "Yeah, just give it a few seconds" he said.

Hidan shrugged at the boy's answer, before returning to his watching of the swirling blue colors as a period of silence settled over the occupants of the room.

Mai seemed to be glad that the two men had managed to sort it out without resorting to anything violent, so she just decided to keep waiting and see what was the deal about those fallen angels that were supposed to arrive next.

Asia, however, seemed to be giving a silent prayer for allowing everything to be solved without any more violence.

Several more moments passed in silence, before someone finally emerged out of the portal and landed on the floor in front of the silver haired boy-priest.

It was a young woman possessing very attractive features and long, black hair that reached down to her hips, as well as a slender and curvaceous body that left little to the imagination with how scantily dressed she appeared to be.

However, the most notable feature about her seemed to be the pair of large, raven wings jutting out of her uncovered back, which clearly hinted towards her supernatural origin.

The fallen angel woman gave a quick inspection of the poorly illuminated room, her violet eyes narrowing slightly at the rather gruesome sight decorating one of the walls and the overall damaged state of the surroundings, before she arched an eyebrow as her gaze swept over the other occupants of the room.

A moment later, she glanced back at the silver haired priest and asked, "What happened in here, Freed?" she paused and gestured airily at the two individuals that she didn't recognize, "And what are these two humans doing here?"

Freed grinned at that question and was about to open his mouth to respond, however, he was beaten to the punch by the grey haired man standing a few feet away from him.

Hidan had been staring in mild curiosity at the skimpily dressed woman for the past minute or so, before finally deciding to say something, moment when he turned to his fellow priest, "Eh?" he voiced in slight confusion while pointing at the dark haired fallen angel, "That's it? A hooker?"

Hearing the man's words, Freed immediately broke into a fit of giggles, which almost resulted in him doubling over from the mirth when he noticed the expression that had taken root on his superior's face.

The dark haired woman looked shocked for a few moments, before anger quickly replaced the surprise on her features as she started glaring daggers at the grey haired man, who was staring back at her in the same mild confusion as earlier, as if he hadn't just insulted her.

She was about to open her mouth and deliver a biting retort and probably emphasize it with a spear of light if necessary, however, she was quickly interrupted by a male voice that sounded in amusement from behind her.

"You shouldn't get so angry over this, Lady Raynare. Your choice of clothing is indeed a little too risqué by normal human standards."

The owner of the voice appeared to be a middle-aged man with short black hair, dark blue eyes, and a pair of raven wings on his back. His attire consisted of a grey trench coat over a white dress shirt with a matching ascot, black pants and shoes, as well as a black fedora.

The woman identified as Raynare promptly swerved her head to look at the newly arrived figure and snapped angrily at him, "Nobody asked for your opinion, Dohnaseek!"

The male fallen angel didn't say anything in reply, and simply smirked as he briefly glanced at the person who stepped out of the portal after him.

It was a girl with blonde hair styled in twin tails and blue eyes, who could have easily passed for a normal teenager, if not for the similar pair of dark wings coming out of her back. The girl's outfit consisted of a black dress with white frills and a large, black bow on the front, white thigh-high socks, and black shoes, as well as a sizable, black bow atop her hair.

"I think someone is overreacting here" the blonde girl spoke with a teasing smile, quickly drawing the raven haired woman's attention on her, "Besides, Lady Raynare, I think you remember all the times when we tried to tell you that you should reconsider your wardrobe a little, right?"

"Shut up, Mittelt" Raynare retorted a moment later, though with somewhat less heat in her voice.

The blonde fallen angel giggled in response, though her amusement was rather short lived due to the last person to arrive before the portal disappeared.

It was another young woman with a very attractive physique, possessing long, navy blue hair that covered one of her brown eyes, leaving the left one to stare narrowed at her two misbehaving companions. Her attire consisted of a violet top that did very little to hide her ample bosom, a matching miniskirt, and heeled, black shoes.

"If you two haven't somehow forgotten already, we've all come here for an important reason" the woman spoke in a serious tone, slowly flapping her wings once for emphasis.

Raynare allowed a tiny smile to upturn her lips as she looked at her subordinate, "Thank you, Kalawarner" she spoke in a tone that was completely bereft of any of the previous anger.

The woman with dark blue hair gave a slight bow of her head in response, "You're welcome, Lady Raynare."

"Kiss-ass..." Mittelt muttered after watching the exchange, prompting Dohnaseek to chuckle silently.

A period of relative silence followed as the three fallen angels finally took in their surroundings, though it only lasted for a few moments.

"Really?" Hidan voiced again in slight disbelief as he looked away from the three newcomers and back at the silver haired boy, "A teenage girl, an old man, and a blue haired chick?"

This comment earned the grey haired man a narrow-eyed look from Mittelt, silence from Dohnaseek, since he couldn't really rebuke that fact, and a somewhat bored look from Kalawarner, who merely watched the exchange in order to pass the time.

Freed chuckled at the amusing yet accurate description given by his friend, "Yep~ They are my super awesome coworkers and boss~" he pointed at the four fallen angels and gestured in an overly dramatic way as he introduced each of them, "Lady Raynare, Mittelt, Kalawarner, and Dohnaseek!"

Raynare didn't seem to appreciate the boy-priest's overly enthusiastic behavior and quickly spoke in a voice of authority, "Stop fooling around and get to the point already, Freed!"

Freed responded with a mock salute done with the same enthusiasm, "Aye, aye, my lady!"

This action earned a grin from Hidan and a chuckle from Dohnaseek, though in the case of Kalawarner and Raynare it only made them narrow their eyes at their fellow fallen angel.

Mittelt, on the other hand, had a smirk on her face, "So, who's this guy?" she asked while pointing at the grey haired man.

"Hey, don't rush me!" Freed snapped in irritation, "I was just getting to that" he then pointed at his fellow priest and began, "Anyway, this is my new super awesome friend!" he said animatedly, "He's a totally swell dude who likes to kill heretics~"

Hidan raised a hand in greeting, "Yo! I'm Hidan, the Head Inquisitor of the Esoteric Faith" he said with an easygoing grin, "Nice to meet ya'll."

The group of fallen angels had varying responses to the man's introduction.

Dohnaseek tipped his fedora as a faint smirk tugged at his mouth.

Kalawarner merely gave a curt nod.

Raynare arched an eyebrow in mild curiosity, though she quickly returned her attention on Freed and began tapping her foot impatiently against the floor as she waited for him to give his report. Though, unfortunately for her, the boy seemed to be oblivious to her current mood as his attention was focused on Hidan.

Mittelt, however, was the only one who met the man's word with a look of dismay, "Oh, great, another crazy weirdo" she airily commented, before glancing at her unhinged coworker, "So, where did you find him, Freed? The mental ward you finally decided to apply to?"

Freed chuckled at her question, "Actually, he found me, hehe~"

"Eh? Whats a mental ward?" Hidan asked in confusion a moment later, prompting the silver haired boy to another round of laughter.

Mittelt didn't look amused, though, "Oh, wow, and he's also an idiot" she added in a voice filled with sarcasm, "Go figure."

As soon as he registered that, Hidan exploded in outrage at the blonde girl, "Hey! Who the hell are you calling an idiot, you midget?!"

"You, you moron. Who else?" the girl immediately responded, looking rather incensed, "And don't call me a midget! I'm still growing!"

"You better take that back, washboard!" Hidan threatened angrily, though it only earned him a kick in the shin from the blonde girl.

Mittelt looked visibly angrier at the previous insult, and was now glowering at the grey haired man from only a couple feet away from him.

"The hell, you damn shrimp?!" Hidan shouted with an irate expression, "You wanna fight, or what?!"

Mittelt snorted in amusement as soon as she heard that, "Ha! As if!" she said haughtily, "You wouldn't last even a minute against me."

Following that, the two continued arguing even more heatedly than before, making it seem that they were only one step away from devolving into a brawl.

From the other side of the room, Mai was watching the unfolding events in apprehension, hoping that the argument between the two wouldn't end up into a fight.

Meanwhile, Raynare seemed to have tuned down the annoying argument taking place only several feet away from her, and diverted all of her attention on the unhinged priest standing in front of her, "I'm still waiting for that explanation, Freed" she spoke with a clear note of impatience in her tone, prompting the boy-priest to snap his head in her direction.

"Ah, yes! The awesome encounter I had this evening!" Freed began in an eager voice as he tried to recall most of the events that took place during the past hour and so, "Coming right up~"

Raynare had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her subordinate's behavior and simply waited for him to continue.

"Alright, so I was doing my usual business, you know, killing some shitty devil-worshipper and nailing him down nicely on the wall, when suddenly, this grey haired dude entered the house with his brown haired chick follower and started complimenting my artwork out of the blue."

Dohnaseek smirked in amusement as he listened to Freed's recounting of the events, though his sentiment didn't seem to be shared by any other of his fellow fallen angels.

"We chatted up a little, and then he said that we should fight each other to pass the time. We did that and had tons of fun, but then came this little incident where I accidentally shot that brown haired chick and almost killed her" Freed paused theatrically to add more effect to his words, before making a gesture to the blonde nun standing to his right, "Luckily, our cute Asia-chan came in at the exact moment to save the day."

Kalawarner didn't seem very impressed by the recollection and simply looked in boredom at the silver haired boy.

"Then a shitty devil finally showed up, and we got to kick some ass in great style, but after that, more shitty devils suddenly popped up and interrupted our fun" Freed continued with unwavering enthusiasm, "Their leader, a big-tittied redhead, started talking to us like she was some hot shit, before saying that she and her lame-ass posse could easily take us on. Well, they actually could've, because they were like four and we were only two, but my awesome fellow over there," he pointed over his shoulder with a thumb, "is a fucking badass, and he said that he could easily take them on like a boss, even if it meant that he would end up kicking the bucket."

The last part seemed to intrigue Dohnaseek, though he didn't say anything and waited for the boy to finish his recounting.

"So, we were about to fire it up and make some of the finest devil sashimi ever, when the fuckers suddenly decided to bail out like the pussies they were once they saw your glittery portal" Freed spoke, "And they only managed to escape thanks to captain dumbass over there, who didn't try to stop 'em, 'cuz their cowardice killed his boner for the fight, or some shit along those lines. And then you guys showed up" he finished with a dramatic gesture of his hands, "Ze end~!"

A moment after the priest concluded his speech, Raynare started massaging her temples in an attempt to help herself better process his recollection. Honestly, if it wasn't for the nun, she wouldn't have even bothered to come in inspection after she had noticed the sudden disappearance of the barrier.

Seeing that Freed was finally done speaking, Dohnaseek decided to voice his previous thoughts on the grey haired man, "This Hidan fellow seems quite interesting" he said, "I wonder how he'd fare in a fight against me."

Kalawarner rolled her eyes at her companion's words, "Anyone who likes to fight would seem interesting to you, Dohnaseek" she stated airily, "And he would probably be more than you could actually handle, if what Freed said about him is accurate."

Dohnaseek simply chuckled in response, "And when had that ever deterred me from having a good fight, Kalawarner?" he asked the blue haired woman with a knowing smirk.

Kalawarner couldn't help but shake her head at the man's belligerent mentality. She knew the older man quite well and she was certain that he'd rather find his end in a battle, than anywhere else.

"Anyway, I'm more intrigued about this new cult that the man seems to be part of" the blue haired woman revealed, "For the past few days, I've been seeing a lot of humans walk by our church while heading to the forest, and they all had the same symbol tattooed on their foreheads as the one this man has on his attire."

Dohnaseek looked thoughtful at that, "Interesting" he muttered while stroking his chin, "Perhaps it is another one of these odd religions that randomly appear every now and then, only to die out after a few months?"

Kalawarner pondered the man's words for a few moments, "Maybe" she said, "But still, do you think that we should look some more into it?"

The middle-aged man shook his head, "I don't think so" he replied, "I don't see it being our business to bother with something like this. Not to mention that we have our plate rather full as it is, anyway."

Kalawarner nodded in agreement to the last part, "You're right" she concurred, "After all, we've come to this town for much more important matters, than investigating weird cults" she briefly glanced at the dark haired woman lost in thought next to her, "Right, Lady Raynare?"

Hearing that quickly snapped Raynare out of her musings, "Yes. Yes, we have" she agreed, before turning to glance at the silver haired priest and added, "So, is that all, Freed?"

Freed looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before giving his reply, "Hm, yeah—wait!" he paused as he suddenly remembered something important, "I almost forgot, but there's something more I have to say, and it's about our cute Asia-chan."

The girl in cause looked nervous as she heard that, though Freed didn't seem to care and finished what he intended to say in a sing-song voice, "She's actually been a naughty girl today and disobeyed me~"

Raynare glanced at the nun, "Is that true, Asia?" she asked with a neutral expression.

Asia nodded meekly in response, before lowering her gaze.

Raynare looked thoughtful for a few moments, "I see..." she spoke, "We will discuss this more after we get back to the church. Understood?"

The blonde girl nodded once more as she gave her reply, "Yes..."

Freed smirked as he watched the exchange take place between his superior and his assistant.

"Good" Raynare seemed pleased with the nun's acceptance and glanced back at the amused boy, "Is there anything else to add, Freed?"

"Nope~" the priest replied in a cheery tone.

"Then we can return to our base" the dark haired woman concluded, before glancing at her blonde subordinate, who still appeared to be caught in a heated argument with the grey haired idiot, and stated, "Mittelt, we are leaving."

Mittelt didn't look like she heard the older fallen angel's words and continued to argue with the annoying buffoon wasting air in front of her, oblivious to the slowly increasing ire of her superior.

Raynare frowned a moment later, prompting Dohnaseek to chuckle as he was also looking at the duo having their verbal sparring match.

"Heh, he's actually matching Mittelt in an argument" the middle-aged man remarked in amusement, before an excited grin quickly made its way on his face, "Imagine how great it would be to have all that energy directed into a fight."

Hearing that prompted Kalawarner to shake her head again.

Raynare, on the other hand, looked increasingly impatient. She was about to open her mouth and address Mittelt once more, however, her dark haired subordinate spoke again before she could have done so.

"Hidan" Dohnaseek called out to the robed man in a more serious tone, "What do you say about having a fight with me at some point?"

Hidan perked up the moment he heard that and immediately stopped from his heated argument with the blonde fallen angel. He quickly turned to look at the older man and grinned, "Sure, man, that sounds awesome!" he replied, "I'm always up for a good fight."

Dohnaseek smirked upon hearing that, "I'll be looking forward to it, then" he said with a grin of his own.

"Cool—" Hidan began to say, but was quickly interrupted by the irate girl in front of him, who seemed to have become even angrier after being so casually ignored.

"Hey, don't ignore me, you dumbass!" Mittelt snapped angrily at the grey haired man, drawing his attention back to herself, "I'm not done yet!"

Raynare appeared to be much calmer as she observed this exchange take place, and she quickly decided against saying anything. Watching Mittelt get the same treatment that she had been given by her earlier was worth postponing their departure for a few minutes.

"Huh? The fuck do you want, you damn midget?!" Hidan asked in an impatient tone as he looked at the fuming girl, "Can't you see that I'm trying to talk to someone here?"

Hearing that, however, seemed to have been the last straw for Mittelt, as her patience with the grey haired man abruptly ended, "Okay, that's it, you're going to get it!" she snapped angrily, before extending one of her hands.

Pink light rapidly coalesced in the girl's opened palm, assuming the shape of a spear that she promptly hurled at the infuriating man with all of the might that she could muster.

Fortunately for Hidan, his sharply honed instincts proved to be superior to the admittedly significant speed at which the blonde fallen angel had hurled her weapon, thus allowing him to dodge the attack with ease.

However, from a more objective point of view, the situation turned out to be more unfortunate than anything else for the grey haired man, given the end result of his action.

The sound of a gurgling noise coming from behind Hidan quickly drew the man's attention, as well as that of every other individual present in the room, to the sight of a shocked Mai as she was staring at the spear of light impaling her through the chest.

A moment later, the spear suddenly vanished and the brown haired girl vomited a mouthful of blood, before collapsing unconsciously on the wooden floor as blood started to pool around her.

A startled gasp left Asia's mouth after she witnessed this, and she quickly rushed to the injured woman and began to heal the gaping wound in her chest.

On the other hand, Dohnaseek, Raynare, and Kalawarner simply watched the unfolding event in apathy.

Freed, however, seemed to find the repeating occurrence funny and started laughing.

Hidan didn't seem to acknowledge any of that, though, and was simply looking at the unconscious Mai while idly thinking that this incident had to be like the third time the woman got impaled by something in the span of a few hours.

Mittelt herself appeared to be slightly apologetic at her deed, though she didn't look like she would be actually expressing that verbally any time soon.

Moments later, Hidan finally snapped out of his idle thoughts once he realized the fact that his first convert was almost killed for a second time. An incensed look quickly spread over his features at that realization, though his reaction was much milder in comparison to the first time, when he didn't know about the existence of the blonde nun who had the power to heal.

"Seriously?! This is the second fucking time this woman almost got killed today because of some shit like this!" Hidan yelled in outrage, "Do you people really suck that much at aiming?!"

"It was you who dodged it in the first place, you idiot!" Mittelt retorted angrily while pointing accusingly at the grey haired man.

Freed let out another round of laughter as soon as he registered that as he was quickly reminded of the events from one hour prior.

Dohnaseek gave a chuckle at his companion's skewed logic as well.

Raynare and Kalawarner merely smirked in amusement as they watched the drama play out between those two.

Meanwhile, Hidan seemed to calm down, which actually allowed him to realize that he was about to enter a stupid conversation the likes of what he had had an hour before, so he decided to save himself the hassle this time around.

"Whatever" he said flippantly, before turning around and walking to the unconscious girl who was being healed by the blonde nun.

He'd had enough shit to deal with as it was for the night, and he didn't feel like arguing with that girl anymore. Well, not without ending up stabbing her a few times anyway.

But he didn't think that it would be a nice thing to do, given how she and these other fallen angel people were working with Freed, who was now his buddy. Besides, they were really okay people in his book, so he guessed that he could be a little more tolerant.

Mittelt, on the other hand, looked even more irate after being ignored for a second time. She was about to give another biting retort to the robed man, however, she was promptly interrupted by a slightly amused Raynare who addressed the blonde nun.

"Asia, we are leaving" the raven haired woman stated, before glancing at her incensed companion, "The same applies to you, Mittelt."

Mittelt huffed in irritation, but complied nonetheless and walked back to her group.

"O-One moment, Lady Raynare" Asia stuttered as she was finishing her healing of the brown haired girl.

A moment later, the green light surrounding the nun's palms faded away as she withdrew her hands from the freshly healed skin of the woman's chest, before standing up from her kneeling position and turning towards the grey haired man reclining against the wall next to her.

"I'm sorry for the inconveniences, mister" Asia quickly spoke in apology as she gave a deep bow.

"Eh?" Hidan looked a little confused at that for a few seconds as he stared at the blonde girl with a quirked eyebrow, but he eventually gained an easygoing grin as he spoke in reply, "Sure, girl, no problem."

Asia smiled in return, before running up to the gathered fallen angels, prompting Raynare to open a portal identical to the one they had arrived through.

Noticing that, Freed called out to his recently made friend and said his goodbye, "See ya later, Hidan!"

Hidan smirked at his fellow priest and newest buddy, "You better have an answer ready for me when we meet again, got it, Freed?"

The boy laughed in response, "Yeah, yeah" he said, before giving a final wave and walking through the portal.

The fallen angels looked a little intrigued at the priest's words, but they seemed to quickly drop the matter and also entered the portal one after the other.

Dohnaseek was the first to step inside the swirling vortex of blue hues, however, before doing so, he tipped his fedora at the robed man, who in turn responded with a casual wave of his hand.

Kalawarner and Raynare were the next to depart, though they entered the portal without saying anything.

Mittelt didn't say anything either, however, she struck a haughty pose with her arms on her hips as she sent one last look in Hidan's direction, before giving a huff and stepping inside the portal as well.

Asia was the last to leave, and she gave another bow to the robed man before following after the fallen angels.

Moments later, the portal disappeared, leaving Hidan alone inside the destroyed room alongside the brown haired girl lying unconscious at his feet in a pool of her own slowly drying blood.

Hidan shifted his attention on the girl and stared at her for a few seconds until he made sure that she was really breathing, before he gave a shrug and bent down to pick her up.

After hoisting the girl on his right shoulder, Hidan proceeded to take a few steps toward the exit, however, he abruptly stopped in his tracks when he realized that he had forgotten to ask Freed where he could find them.

A few moments passed as the man seemed to contemplate his pickle, before he suddenly gave another shrug and continued his walk until he exited the house.

As soon as he was outside, he quickly jumped on the rooftop of the house with practiced ease while keeping the girl secured on his shoulder with an arm, before jumping on another nearby rooftop as he headed back to the shrine at a leisure pace.

* * *

Rias Gremory was sitting at her desk in the clubroom, her shoulders slumped and her blue-green eyes staring unfocused at the ceiling as her mind was in a completely different place.

The past few days had been a rather hectic mess to her, and she still couldn't tell whether things would be looking up for her in the near future or not.

First she had discovered that a bunch of fallen angels were loitering around her town while seemingly being up to some shady business, and then she had learned that they were actually targeting her prospective candidate for a pawn.

And while that meant that the boy truly possessed a valuable sacred gear in order to warrant such attention from another faction of the supernatural, she had still found their meddling troublesome, because it had forced her to readjust her plans multiple times.

Yet, despite all of that, she had eventually managed to come up with a plan that should have yielded her a grateful and loyal pawn to help her with the imminent issue that threatened her future.

Though, as things turned out, her plan hadn't been actually foolproof, because that Hyōdō Issei boy had not summoned her on that evening as he had been supposed to do.

Initially, she had thought that the boy had simply died before getting the chance to use that flyer he had been given, however, as she had later found out through her familiar, it turned out that the boy was much well alive and unscathed, albeit for the part where he had been keeping himself locked in his own room for the past three days.

And while that in and of itself hasn't been exactly unusual due to the fact that it could have easily been chalked up to being a mere teenage crisis, the fact that the boy appeared to have mysteriously turned into a girl somewhat baffled her.

She wasn't that ignorant as to believe that such a thing was impossible out of the realm of fantasy, but she simply had no idea about what had been the cause of it in the first place.

The boy had literally been turned into a girl overnight, with no indications as to what or whom might have been responsible for it. And despite knowing that she should be grateful for the fact that the boy—girl was still alive, she couldn't help but feel annoyed at the monkey wrench that someone or something had unknowingly thrown in her plans.

After all, not only had her acquisition been delayed, but she had also had to spend even more time revising her previous plan to account for these unexplainable changes. And with how time had become a rather precious commodity to her lately, she couldn't exactly afford to waste any of it.

The only silver lining that she could see in regard to this matter was the fact that even with these deterring events surrounding her future pawn, she should still be able to persuade Issei into her peerage with relative ease, given how she could use the promise of help for her gender problem as a highly valuable bargaining chip. Which was exactly what she was counting on for the visit that she would be paying to the boy turned girl around midnight in order to seal the deal.

However, until then, there were still a couple more hours, and there were plenty more issues for her to deal with.

Rias released a sigh as she slumped even further in her comfortable chair.

From the looks of it, she wasn't going to get home anytime before her meeting with Issei at midnight, so she should at least make the most out of the couple hours remaining until that event and sort through the rest of her issues.

The number two in her list was something much more recent.

It was actually recent enough that it had been spawned only an hour prior, when she had gone with her peerage on a rescue mission to retrieve Koneko, after a mishap involving a contract of hers.

Koneko had given her a detailed report of what had transpired before her and the others' arrival, and it had been both troubling and intriguing at the same time.

Troubling, because it made it clear to her that those fallen angels were up to no good in her town, and intriguing, because she had obtained some information about an individual whom she might be able to use in her favor for the inevitable confrontation that she would have to have with _that_ man.

Sure, this individual seemed to be as unhinged as that repulsive exorcist that she had had the misfortune of meeting in person, most likely a reason for why the two seemed to have been getting along so nicely, however, working with someone who might or might not be insane paled in comparison to having to become a trophy wife to that pompous bastard of her fiancée.

From what Koneko had told her, that Hidan individual possessed a rather unique ability, which allowed him to easily surpass the level of strength and durability granted by her rook evil piece, so if she was able to find the proper incentive to enlist him to her cause, then it should greatly improve her odds of being victorious.

The only thing that troubled her in regard to the grey haired man was the apparent connection that he seemed to have with the mysterious cult that had taken root in her domain during the past week or so.

She might have not been able to make the connection at the time of their meeting, but after returning back to the clubroom and taking some time to organize her thoughts, she finally remembered why that peculiar symbol on the man's attire had looked so familiar to her.

A couple days ago, she had been told by her informants about this uprising religion and had even seen some of its members herself, though she had not taken it that seriously at that time due to knowing about the nature of such spontaneous cults which would usually lose their traction after a relatively short time.

But now that she had stumbled upon one of these cultists, who was actually linked to the supernatural through his innate ability of using life force similar to a yōkai, she couldn't take them so lightly anymore.

After all, who was to say that there weren't any more people like this Hidan waiting for a chance to come out of the woodwork and do Lucifer knew what?

She clearly remembered the unhinged man's rambling about that friend of his who supposedly had some rather dangerous equipment or even powers of his own at disposal, so she would have to at least monitor the progression of this odd religion somewhat closer.

Not to mention that she would also have to make sure that she had a plan readied in the case that they turned out to be another one of those radical cults, which would end up wreaking havoc for the stupidest of reasons.

She knew that her brother was a mere phone call away and that he would be more than eager to help her in any way possible, however, she didn't want to depend on him for the rest of her life, and especially not for what would be considered as being trivial issues that she should be capable of solving herself as the heiress of the Gremory Clan.

A deep frown marred the crimson haired girl's features at that particular thought.

It seemed that no matter how she approached things with her thinking, in the end, she still ended in the same spot. The issue which all of her other problems essentially boiled down to.

The arranged marriage between herself and the repulsive Phenex who would undoubtedly end up making her life a living hell if she didn't do something about it.

And yet, there was only so much that she could do against someone as influential as Riser Phenex. Especially when it had been their parents, even more so hers, who had orchestrated the whole thing.

She knew that her dear brother most definitely had some ace up his sleeve in case that things went really bad, but she didn't want to depend on that if she could help it. She wanted to fight for her future with her own power, first and foremost, because her struggle had one more reason beyond simply getting her out of this horrid mess.

She wanted to prove to her parents that she could decide her own future and that she was mature enough to take all of the matters pertaining to it in her own hands.

And the first step to do that would be to show them that she wasn't going to remain silent and take whatever asinine marriage attempts they threw at her while expecting her to simply nod and accept, just because it was for the prosperity of the devil race.

She wasn't a bargaining chip on their table and she refused to be treated as such. She was her own person and she would definitely prove that to them!

However, at the same time, she wasn't so delusional as to believe that she could succeed with this simply because she really, really wanted to.

After all, the days until the deadline of their marriage were slowly but steadily approaching, and she was still lacking the things that she needed to ensure her success.

She knew that in the end, her fate would most likely be decided through a rating game between her and the Phenex, and while such a thing was good, because it would leave no room for any arguments on the loser's part, at the same time, it put her at a disadvantage simply because she lacked a complete peerage as opposed to that man.

Not to mention that her sole bishop was sealed in the basement of her clubroom due to her not being strong enough to control his formidable power.

So, if she wanted to at least have a chance at winning against that arrogant prick, then she would have to get that Hyōdō as her pawn, since she was almost sure that the girl's sacred gear had to be a really powerful one.

And by having that coupled with one or two more possible pieces on her side, she was certain that she could win the rating game and save herself from a life of humiliation and psychological trauma at the hands of that bastard.

As for whom that last piece could be, Rias had a particular person in mind after the most recent events that she had been made knowledgeable of.

That blonde nun, who was the possessor of Twilight Healing, could come in very handy against Riser and his rather fearsome powers over wind and fire. Someone with the ability to heal should prove to be invaluable against such a tricky opponent.

And given the fact that it wouldn't even be that hard to get the nun in her peerage, she would have to be a fool to pass up such an opportunity.

After all, she was aware of the budding friendship between Koneko and the girl, so all she had to do was to use it in her favor. Though, in order to do that, she would have to wait for a suitable moment to make her move.

She didn't exactly know what plans those fallen angels had with the nun yet, but she could bet that they were nefarious enough to serve as the perfect guise for an intervention on her part.

Koneko was also bound to soon realize that those fallen angels most likely had some shady ulterior motives in regard to that Asia girl, so she could definitely make good use of that incentive.

Not only would she be willing to intervene and _save_ the nun for the sake of her dear servant's friendship with the girl, but she should also be able to use this instance to perhaps try and get Issei to awaken her own sacred gear.

And in the case that she would need any extra justification for her actions, then she could easily use the recent encounter between her peerage and that deranged exorcist to add a righteous sentiment to her agenda involving the fallen angels.

There was truly no better deal that she could ever hope to get in terms of risk versus reward. She would be risking nothing, and there would be a lot things to benefit her once she put her plans into motion.

Rias smiled at that thought.

Perhaps things weren't as bad as she had initially thought them to be?

The odds were definitely in her favor so far, and there was tangible hope for her to latch onto. All she had to do was to simply seize it with her own two hands and not let go of it no matter what.

* * *

Forest green eyes fluttered open as Mai was slowly roused from her peaceful slumber by a stray droplet of water that splashed against her face.

A strange yet pleasant feeling was made known to her senses a moment later, and she briefly wondered whether she was imagining the enveloping warmth gently caressing her body or not.

The answer to that quickly became apparent to her once she took a few moments to glance at her surroundings, and she blinked a few times in confusion at the unfamiliar sight that greeted her.

A large cavern faintly illuminated by the silvery glow of a lake at whose edge she was currently resting against a rock.

She wondered how she had ended up in such a place as she idly stared at her tattered clothes, and her eyes slightly widened in realization when her most recent memories rushed to the forefront of her mind.

So she had actually survived her second close encounter with death during the same day...

Part of her knew that she should feel terrified at the mostly unknown world she had recently stepped into, however, the other, much larger part, seemed to be impervious to any negative thoughts that would have easily plunged her into anxiety otherwise.

Lying submerged in the glowing water, she couldn't help but focus on the peaceful feeling and the warmth suffusing her being. Which was more than a little strange, because the water itself wasn't as warm as it actually made her feel.

She also felt really pleasant. Almost incredibly so, as if she hadn't just woken up after a very rough day which should have left her sore in many places.

Instead, she felt rejuvenated and full of vigor, better than she had ever felt even after the most restful of her slumbers.

Not to mention that she felt none of the lingering pain that she should have been left with after her traumatizing encounter from the day before. And neither could she see any of the bruises that should have been on her arms and legs, nor any scars where her skin was exposed by her torn clothes.

The only thing present on her body that seemed to catch her attention as she stared at her reflexion in the water was the peculiar yet not unfamiliar symbol etched in a dark hue on her forehead, which could have easily been mistaken for a tattoo by the less knowledgeable.

She tentatively reached with a hand and traced the concentric lines of the mysterious eye with a finger, marveling at how she seemed to recognize and understand on a deep, almost subconscious level what the symbol stood for.

 _Esotericism..._

That thought was accompanied by a brief surge in that feeling of tranquility which had been permeating her entire being ever since she had regained consciousness, and it only took her a few seconds to realize that it definitely had something to do with the mark on her forehead.

She guessed that she must have undergone a baptizing ritual of sorts during the time she had been unconscious, and that she most likely was a full fledged member of the religion now.

She had never been a religious person up until now, so she didn't have any experience with this type of situations, however, something told her that the things she was experiencing right now were unusual even from a standard religious point of view.

After all, she had never heard of any baptism ceremony capable of making people feel such strange emotions and sensations.

But then again, she had neither come across supernatural, immortal individuals that could attest to the existence of an extra-dimensional God of Gods up until the previous day, so she really couldn't say that she had been that knowledgeable to begin with.

Yet, there was no denying the fact that this glowing water surrounding her seemed to possess really amazing and mysterious properties.

All this time she had spent bathing in it, she had been thinking about how she couldn't see even an ounce of grime or a drop of sweat on her body, as if this water had washed her better than any soap could have possibly done.

Even her clothes were lacking all of the previous stains and dirt. And not only that, but she also felt clean. Both in the physical sense and in an inexplicable way that she couldn't exactly put into words.

It was like she could feel clean both on the outside and on the inside. It was an odd but not unwelcome sentiment.

The brown haired girl was suddenly brought out of her musings when she heard the distinctive sound of footsteps coming from behind her. She quickly turned around and noticed the familiar figure descending on the stone stairs that seemed to be leading to the surface.

Wearing an undamaged and clean version of the same black robe as the day before was the grey haired man whom she had met by pure chance, and about whom she had rather mixed feelings.

He had been the one to save her from a fate that she really didn't want to think about any more than she had already done, though, at the same time, as a result of their meeting, she had ended up getting involved in matters that she still couldn't fully comprehend. Not to mention her two, rather close encounters with death that she had had over the span of a single evening.

She was either very unlucky, or the grey haired man was a real trouble magnet who would unfortunately also get her dragged along by simple association. Something that she wasn't exactly looking for, since she really didn't feel like testing the limits of her body in such a life-threatening manner.

Considering her experiences so far, it probably had to be a combination of both.

Still, she knew that if she valued her life, then she should honestly not associate herself with an unhinged, immortal zealot more than it was absolutely necessary. So, she really hoped that this odd religion she had gotten herself into could offer her some position that didn't involve any similar activities to what she had experienced on the previous evening.

The girl's musings were once more brought to a halt when she noticed Hidan stop a few feet away from the edge of the lake, after he had finished climbing down the entire set of stairs.

"Good morning, Mai" the man casually greeted with a raised hand, "Feeling better, eh?"

Mai nodded in response, "Yes, it feels great."

Hidan grinned at that, "This is just a small taste of what you could eventually get. Our Lord generously rewards the faithful and devoted with His kindness and favor."

"I see..." the girl trailed off with a thoughtful expression on her face, before remembering that she wanted to ask something, "By the way, what exactly is this water?"

"Oh, it's just simple water that our Lord had blessed with his power and essence" the robed man replied, "It can heal any living thing it touches and also purify them down to their very soul."

Mai's eyes widened in amazement as soon as she registered that, "Wow..." she voiced, her mind unable to form anything more coherent than that as it was busy recounting all of the things she had come to realize upon her waking up.

She felt as if she had been given another chance at life after the horrible incident that she had suffered through on the day before. An incident which right now felt as more of a distant, bad memory than anything else.

Perhaps having Hidan stumble upon her in that alleyway had actually been the best thing that could have happened to her given those circumstances?

She didn't get to dwell too much on that thought, because the grey haired man quickly addressed her once more.

"It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

Mai smiled in response, "Yes, it is, Hidan."

The grey haired man chuckled at that, "Good, now go get yourself dressed and ready, because otherwise you'd be missing on an awesome breakfast" he said with a smirk while pointing at the neatly folded white kimono placed on a nearby rock, "I'll be waiting outside to show you how to get there. You got like ten minutes left, so you better hurry."

Saying that, Hidan turned around to leave, though he abruptly stopped after taking only a couple steps as he seemed to remember something.

"Oh, and I'm also going to take you on a quick tour of the grounds once we're done, and then you should attend the morning sermon to get started. You'll get to know everything you need by asking the people there."

Mai looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before nodding in response, "Okay" she said, prompting Hidan to turn around and resume his walk.

A moment later, she got out of the rather shallow lake and made her way to the stone slab where her new garment lay, all the while marveling at how the slowly evaporating water from her body and soaked clothes was releasing a faint, pure white mist that, as if possessing a will of its own, wafted back towards the lake.

She briefly glanced out the corner of her eye at Hidan, and after noticing that he had already climbed half of the stairs, she began undressing herself.

A silent sigh left her mouth after she removed her torn clothes and a thoughtful look crossed her face a moment later. To think that her biggest worries from one day ago were about her high school life and boys...

In the span of a single day, her whole life had taken a complete one-eighty turn. And right now, all those supposed issues felt so tiny in comparison.

At least she had the faith that things were going to get better from this point onward.

* * *

"So, what is our next move going to be now that Ophis had basically disbanded our organization?"

The question came from a black haired, bespectacled male, who was sitting rather tense on a couch at the front of a modestly decorated room. His blue eyes were staring expectantly at the other occupant of the room, who was seated at a medium sized desk in its center.

The person in cause was another dark haired young man, whose handsome features were settled into an amused expression.

"The same as before, Georg" the male spoke while arranging some papers on his desk in a neat stack, "It doesn't matter what that naïve girl says" he added while glancing up at the other young man, "Whether we have our mascot or not, the initial plan remains the same. For now, we will simply continue to recruit more talented individuals for our cause."

The bespectacled young man lost most of his tension from earlier upon hearing that and relaxed his posture, "Then what about the other factions, Cao?" he asked after a few moments.

Cao Cao waved his hand dismissively in response, "They can do whatever they want to" he said airily, "I doubt they would simply up and leave only because Ophis had told them that they aren't needed anymore. They have their own agenda, after all. Just like we have ours."

Georg simply nodded at his friend and watched how the man propped his head in one hand while having the other drum its fingers on the desk.

Cao Cao closed his eyes in thought, and a brief period of silence settled over the small room.

Moments later, the dark haired male pursed his lips, before speaking once more, "Though, I find myself curious about one thing..."

"And that is?" Georg asked in curiosity, despite knowing that the young man would have continued even without his input.

Cao Cao stopped his drumming and opened his grey eyes, "I wonder how Ophis had managed to make Great Red leave the dimensional gap on her own" he mused, "Maybe I should actually look into it."

"Could someone or something else have helped her?" Georg asked after another brief silence.

Cao Cao looked thoughtful for a moment, "Who knows?" he said, before his lips curled into a smirk, "But if it's another player on our board, then we at least need to know whether he's playing for our side or the enemy one."

* * *

Hagoromo was taking a leisure stroll through his shrine's vibrant garden, his expression tranquil as his gaze idly swept over the nature bathed in the midday sun.

Walking to his right was his beloved wife, a happy smile on her face as she held affectionately to his arm.

Hagoromo's lips suddenly twitched into a minute smile and he briefly glanced in the direction of the red torii gate barely visible in the distance, before returning his sight on the garden in front of him and resuming his previous activities.

Yuno, however, looked somewhat intrigued by this action and quickly opened her mouth to ask curiously, "Is it another one, darling?"

The young man chuckled softly at her question, "Indeed, my dear" he answered with an amused smile, "A devil, this time."

The barrier he had placed around the property really simplified things by allowing him to maintain a constant, subconscious awareness of everything that moved within the shrine's grounds.

Among several other things, of course.

"So, are you going to let him in, or will he get the same treatment as those nosy angels from a few days ago?" Yuno asked in amusement.

"I'll let him enter" Hagoromo answered with an amused smile, "The reason why I denied access to those watchers was simply because I wanted to send a certain message to Michael regarding proper diplomacy. The amusement we had derived from their confusion had been more of a welcome byproduct of that decision than anything else" he briefly glanced again in the same direction as earlier, before his smile widened, "But in this case, having that Gremory girl acquire some more concrete information about the religion would only benefit us."

"Because it would remove most of her suspicions on Hidan?" Yuno added a moment later.

"Precisely" Hagoromo replied, "And that would in turn allow for a certain series of developments to take place in the near future."

~Hagoromo decided to focus on the fallen for the time being, with the devils being in the background as Hidan progressively gets involved with them. The angels were set aside, because of Michael's lack of tact, so Hagoromo would wait for them to come to him instead

Hidan providing him with more instances of amusement was something that he had anticipated on some level from the very beginning, when he had given the man his 'leisure time'.

The fact that his faithful priest had actually managed to create a good opportunity that could be easily interwoven with his main plans was something that he could only commend, even if it had been mostly unintentional on the man's part.

He had observed the man's encounters from the day before, and he had immediately seen the prospects of even more amusement that lay in the making. So all he had to do was to capitalize on it. Especially since he had also been given an idea that would allow his faithful priest to improve even further.

Hagoromo's brief musings were quickly put to an end when the sweet voice of his wife met his ears again.

"You have something big planned for Hidan, don't you?" Yuno spoke with a knowing smile playing on her lips.

Hagoromo could only chuckle in response, "Indeed" he said, "Though, for this evening, I'm going to take most of the spotlight for myself."

Yuno looked a little intrigued by that, "So you're going for the fallen angels first?" she asked.

"Well, they are the most interesting of the bunch, after all" Hagoromo replied matter-of-factly, "And besides, it would be a shame to just let the opportunity go to waste after all the effort Hidan had put into seizing it for us."

Yuno gained a thoughtful look upon hearing that, "I wonder how many birds you are going to hit with the same stone tonight" she mused.

"Probably a few thousand, if we consider in the long run" Hagoromo chuckled, "And some bats as well, once Hidan gets truly involved."

Yuno giggled in amusement, "This is going to be fun."

Hagoromo smirked at that, "For us, mostly" he added.

That brought another series of giggles from Yuno, as well as a few chuckles from Hagoromo himself as they continued to walk through their garden at a leisure pace.


End file.
